Former president of the European Commission Jacques Delors died this Wednesday at the age of 98.
The death of the French politician was confirmed to AFP by his daughter, Martine Aubry: “[Jacques Delors] “He died this Wednesday morning, at his home in Paris, while he was sleeping.”
Figure in the construction of the European project and considered the “father of the euro”, Jacques Delors was president of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995. During his presidency, he played an important role in the implementation of the free movement of products, people, services and capitals between the member states of the European Union, through the Treaty of Maastricht, which came into force in 1993. Delors also began the construction of the single European currency, the euro.
An unavoidable name on the French left, Jacques Delors dashed the hopes of this wing of the party by refusing to stand in France’s 1995 presidential election. At that time he was the favorite in the polls.
The signing of the Schengen agreements, the launch of the Erasmus student exchange program, the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the launch of the Economic and Monetary Union that led to the creation of the euro are other moments of the European project that are associated with Delors.
“He was a protagonist in the transformation of the European Community into the European Union (EU), guiding the community nations towards the single currency and greater cooperation in defense matters,” states the online page of the Jacques Delors European Information Center.
An unavoidable name of the French left – he was Minister of Economy (1981-1984) during the presidency of François Mitterrand – Jacques Delors frustrated the hopes of this wing of the party by refusing to stand in the 1995 presidential elections in France. At that time he was a favorite in the polls and his resignation broadcast on television was seen by 13 million viewers.
“I have no regrets,” he told Le Point magazine in 2021.
“I was too worried about independence and I felt different from those around me. My way of doing politics was not the same,” he said on the same occasion.
In March 2020, he called on EU heads of state and government to show greater solidarity, as they struggled to achieve a common response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With his think tanks, the “Club témoin” and “Notre Europe” (which later became the “Institut Jacques-Delors” and has offices in Paris, Brussels and Berlin), the politician, born in Paris in 1925, defended until the end the reinforcement of European federalism and called for greater “boldness” when ‘Brexit’ (the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU) occurs and in the face of attacks from “populists of all kinds.”
After a career at the Bank of France, from 1945 to 1962, he became a member of the Economic and Social Council and head of the Social Affairs service of the Commissioner General for Planning until 1969, where he was appointed secretary general of continuing training and social assistance. . promotion.
He was a member of the cabinet of Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas from 1969 to 1972, in charge of social and cultural affairs, as well as economic, financial and social issues.
He was an associate professor at the University Paris-Dauphine, from 1974 to 1979, and directed the Work and Society Research Center. He was a member of the General Council of the French bank, from 1973 to 1979. He also taught at the National School of Administration.
Member of the French Socialist Party in 1974 and of its steering committee in 1979, he was elected European parliamentarian in 1979 and chaired the Economic and Monetary Commission until May 1981.
From May 1981 to July 1984, Jacques Delors was Minister of Economy and Finance and also elected president of the Chamber of Clichy, from 1983 to 1984.
Between 1992 and 1996 he chaired the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century at UNESCO.
During the 2000s, he was also President of the Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion (CERC).
He received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from more than two dozen universities, as well as several awards and distinctions: Jean Monnet award (1998); Louis Weiss Award (1989); Prince of Asturias Award (1989); Charlemagne Prize (1992); Carlos V Award (1995); Erasme Award (1997); world economics award (2006); Nijmegen Peace Medal (2010).
Source: TSF
