The Thorn Commission was the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

 that held office from 6 January 1981 until 5 January 1985. Its President

President of the European Commission

The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...

 was Gaston Thorn

Gaston Thorn

Gaston Egmond Thorn was a Luxembourg politician who served in a number of high-profile positions, both domestically and internationally...

.

Work

It was the successor to the Jenkins Commission

Jenkins Commission (EU)

The Jenkins Commission is the European Commission that held office from 6 January 1977 to 6 January 1981. Its President was Roy Jenkins.-Work:It was the successor to the Ortoli Commission and was succeeded by the Thorn Commission...

 and was succeeded by the Delors Commission

Delors Commission

The Delors Commission was the administration of Jacques Delors, the 8th President of the European Commission. Delors presided over the European Commission for three terms The Delors Commission was the administration of Jacques Delors, the 8th President of the European Commission. Delors presided...

. With a current economic criss, it had to speed up enlargement

Enlargement of the European Union

The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...

 to Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 while making steps towards the Single European Act

Single European Act

The Single European Act was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a Single Market by 31 December 1992, and codified European Political Cooperation, the forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy...

 in 1985. However with a period of eurosclerosis

Eurosclerosis

Eurosclerosis is a term coined in the 1970s and the early 1980s to describe both a political period and an economic pattern in Europe, alluding to the medical term sclerosis...

, due to economic problems and British vetoing over the Community budget, Thorn was unable to exert his influence to any significant extent.

Membership

Portfolio	Member state	Office-holder
President President of the European Commission The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...		Gaston Thorn Gaston Thorn Gaston Egmond Thorn was a Luxembourg politician who served in a number of high-profile positions, both domestically and internationally...
Delegate of the President; personnel and administration; Statistical Office Eurostat Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,... ; Office for Official Publications Publications Office (European Union) The Publications Office of the European Union is an interinstitutional office whose task is to publish the publications of the institutions of the European Communities and the European Union ....		Richard Burke (after the retirement of Michael O'Kennedy in 1982 to contest the Irish general election)
External Relations including Nuclear Affairs European Commissioner for Energy The Commissioner for Energy is a member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Günther Oettinger .-Responsibilities:The Commissioner holds responsibility for the European Union's energy policy as well as nuclear issues . It was previously a backwater in the Commission but has now...		Wilhelm Haferkamp Wilhelm Haferkamp Wilhelm Haferkamp was a long time member of the European Commission. Born in Germany, he was a social democratic politician. He was appointed by to the Commission by the West German government in 1967. He served in a number of posts including Vice President until 1985...
Vice-President Vice-President of the European Commission A Vice President of the European Commission is a post in the European Commission usually occupied by more than one member of the Commission. Since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty entered into force, one of these is ex-officio the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,... ; Budget and Financial Control, Financial Institutions and Taxation		Christopher Tugendhat
Industrial Affairs and Energy European Commissioner for Energy The Commissioner for Energy is a member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Günther Oettinger .-Responsibilities:The Commissioner holds responsibility for the European Union's energy policy as well as nuclear issues . It was previously a backwater in the Commission but has now...		Étienne Davignon Étienne Davignon Étienne Francois Jacques Davignon, Viscount Davignon is a Belgian politician, businessman, and former vice-president of the European Commission.-Career:...
Mediterranean policy; enlargement European Commissioner for Enlargement The Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy is the member of the European Commission in charge of overseeing the accession process of prospective new member states and relations with those bordering the European Union... ; information		Lorenzo Natali
Vice-President Vice-President of the European Commission A Vice President of the European Commission is a post in the European Commission usually occupied by more than one member of the Commission. Since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty entered into force, one of these is ex-officio the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,... ; Economic and Financial Affairs European Commissioner for Economic & Financial Affairs The Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro is the member of the European Commission responsible for economic and financial affairs. The current Commissioner is Olli Rehn .-Responsibilities:...		François-Xavier Ortoli François-Xavier Ortoli François-Xavier Ortoli was a French Gaullist politician and businessman. He served with the Free French Forces during World War II and was decorated with the Croix de guerre, Médaille militaire and Médaille de la Résistance...
Regional policy and coordination of Community funds European Commissioner for Regional Policy The Commissioner for Regional Policy is a portfolio within the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Johannes Hahn.The portfolio is responsible for managing the regional policy of the European Union, such as the European Regional Development Fund, which takes up a third of the EU's...		Antonio Giolitti Antonio Giolitti Antonio Giolitti was an Italian politician and cabinet member. He is the grandson of Giovanni Giolitti, well-known liberal statesman of the prefascist period.-Biography:Giolitti was born in Rome....
Development European Commissioner for Development & Humanitarian Aid The Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Kristalina Georgieva....  (to May 1981)		Claude Cheysson Claude Cheysson Claude Cheysson is a French Socialist politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of Pierre Mauroy from 1981 to 1984.-Career:...
Development European Commissioner for Development & Humanitarian Aid The Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Kristalina Georgieva....  (from May 1981)		Edgard Pisani Edgard Pisani Edgard Pisani was a French politician. He was born in Tunis and his parents were Maltese immigrants. He spent his childhood in Tunisia and later studied in Paris. Pisani holds a "licence de lettres" from La Sorbonne. His second marriage was with the daughter of André Le Troquer.He held positions...  (after Cheysson's nomination to the French Government in 1981)
Agriculture and Fisheries		Finn Olav Gundelach
Agriculture and Fisheries		Poul Dalsager (after Finn Gundelach's death in 1981)
Internal market European Commissioner for Internal Market & Services The Commissioner for Internal Market and Services is a member of the European Commission. The post is currently held by Commissioner Michel Barnier .-Responsibilities:... , industrial innovation European Commissioner for Enterprise & Industry The Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship is a Vice President of the European Commission. The current commissioner is Antonio Tajani.The post was enlarged from the Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society portfolio in the Prodi Commission to include Industry... , customs union European Commissioner for Taxation & Customs Union The Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, Audit and Anti-Fraud is the member of the European Commission. The current commissioner is Algirdas Šemeta. The post was previously divided prior to 2010, with audit being under control of the Commissioner for Administrative Affairs.The post is... , the environment, consumer protection and nuclear safety European Commissioner for Energy The Commissioner for Energy is a member of the European Commission. The current Commissioner is Günther Oettinger .-Responsibilities:The Commissioner holds responsibility for the European Union's energy policy as well as nuclear issues . It was previously a backwater in the Commission but has now...		Karl-Heinz Narjes
Transport European Commissioner for Transport The Commissioner for Transport is the member of the European Commission. The current commissioner is Siim Kallas.The portfolio is responsible for the development of transport infastructure in the European Union such as road and rail networks but also navigation systems such as the Galileo... ; fisheries; coordination of questions related to tourism		Giorgios Contogeorgis
Personnel, Administration and the Statistics Office		Michael O'Kennedy Michael O'Kennedy Michael O'Kennedy is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician, who served in a range of cabinet positions, most notably as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Finance and Irish European Commissioner.-Early life:...  (until 1982)
Employment and Social Affairs		Ivor Richard
Relations with the European Parliament and competition Commissioner for Competition The Commissioner for Competition is the member responsible for competition of the European Commission. The current commissioner is Joaquín Almunia who is also a Commission Vice President.-Responsibilities:...		Frans Andriessen Frans Andriessen Franciscus Henricus Johannes Joseph Andriessen is a senior Dutch politician.In 1967 he was first elected to the House of Representatives for the Katholieke Volkspartij . From 1971 to 1977 he was leader of the KVP. He served as Minister of Finance and European Commissioner for Trade, Competition...

Summary by political leanings

The colour of the row indicates the approximate political leaning of the office holder using the following scheme:

Affiliation	No. of Commissioners
Right Right-wing politics In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...  leaning / Conservative Conservatism Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...	6
Liberal Liberalism Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...	1
Left Left-wing politics In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...  leaning / Socialist Socialism Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...	4
Unknown / Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...	6