The French president, Emmanuel Macron, praised this Friday the statesman Jacques Delors, who died on December 27 at the age of 98, at a state funeral. Macron recalled that Delors was the engine of Brussels during the longest period of integration of the European Union with the creation of the single market and the euro.
“Jacques Delors never tired of finding alternatives, of building bridges. Delors contributed to designing the face of Europe as it is today,” said Macron, quoted by the newspaper France24, at a ceremony in Paris, next to the coffin of the former minister of Finance. Minister covered with the French flag and singing the anthem of the European Union.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, were some of the European personalities present. On the Portuguese side there was Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Cavaco Silva and Durão Barrosoas well as national leaders from across Europe, including Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, as well as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Delors was president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995, leaving office after disappointing his French supporters by refusing to run for president in his home country. Before that, he had played a transformative role as the European Community, which became the European Union during his tenure, took a central role in the continent’s affairs.
It was also Minister of Finance of the late French President François Mitterrand.
Source: TSF
