Karel Van Miert, one of the most respected European commissioners of the past 20 years, has died in his native Belgium at the age of 67. Van Miert died on Monday after falling from a garden ladder at his home south of Brussels.

A Flemish socialist who was the European Union’s competition commissioner from 1993-9, Van Miert was a well-liked politician, famous for his bright red socks and his love of sports. But he also had a steely side to his character and was never afraid to speak his mind on sensitive corporate issues.