His Excellency
Jacques Delors
Delors in 1993
President of the European Commission
In office
7 January 1985 – 24 January 1995
Vice PresidentFrans Andriessen
Preceded byGaston Thorn
Succeeded byJacques Santer
Mayor of Clichy
In office
19 March 1983 – 19 December 1984
Preceded byGaston Roche
Succeeded byGilles Catoire
Minister of Finance
In office
22 May 1981 – 17 July 1984
Prime MinisterPierre Mauroy
Preceded byRené Monory
Succeeded byPierre Bérégovoy
Member of the European Parliament
In office
1 July 1979 – 25 May 1981
ConstituencyEast France
Personal details
Born
Jacques Lucien Jean Delors

(1925-07-20)20 July 1925
Paris, France
Died27 December 2023(2023-12-27) (aged 98)
Paris, France
Political partySocialist
Spouse
Marie Lephaille
​
​
(m. 1948; died 2020)​
Children2, including Martine
Alma materUniversity of Paris

Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (French pronunciation: [ʒak lysjɛ̃ ʒɑ̃ dəlɔʁ]; 20 July 1925 – 27 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market, the euro and the modern European Union.

As president of the European Commission (EC), Delors was the most visible and influential leader in European affairs. He implemented policies that closely linked the member nations together and promoted the need for unity. He created a single market that made the free movement of persons, capital, goods, and services within the European Economic Community (EEC) possible. He also headed the so-called Delors Committee which proposed the monetary union to create the euro, a new single currency to replace individual national currencies. This was achieved by the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.

Delors was a member of the French Socialist Party. Before becoming president of the EC, he was France's finance minister from 1981 to 1984, and a member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981.

French politics

Born in Paris in a family originating from Corrèze, Delors first held in the 1940s through the 1960s a series of posts in French banking and state planning with the Bank of France.[1] As a member of the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC), he participated in its secularization and the foundation of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). In 1969, he became social affairs adviser to the Gaullist Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas, a move which was presented as part of Chaban's outreach to the centre-ground and first attracted media attention to Delors personally.[1]

In 1957, Delors left the CFDT when he became a high government official to avoid conflicts of interests. In 1974, he joined the Socialist Party, with other left-wing Christians. He was one of the rare members of the party to be openly religious, thus challenging its long-standing secular tradition of laïcité.[2] He served in the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981, becoming chairman of its Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, actively taking part in debates about economic, social, and monetary policies.[1] Under President François Mitterrand, Delors served as Economics and Finance Minister from 1981 to 1983, and Economics, Finance, and Budget Minister from 1983 to 1984.[1] He advocated a pause in the social policies, a clear acceptance of the market economy, and an alignment with European social democracy. Critically, he held the line on France's membership of the European Monetary System (EMS), giving priority to monetary stability over left-wing spending priorities. Mitterrand flirted with the idea of naming him Prime Minister, but never made the appointment.[3]

President of the European Commission

Press conference (from left to right) with Danish minister of finance, Henning Christophersen, Dutch ministers Wim Kok, Hans van den Broek and Ruud Lubbers, after the European Council in Maastricht, 1991, which led to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty

Delors became the President of the European Commission in January 1985. During his presidency, he oversaw important budgetary reforms and laid the groundwork for the introduction of a single market within the European Community. It came into effect on 1 January 1993 and allowed the free movement of persons, capital, goods, and services within the Community.[4][5]

Delors also headed the Committee for the Study of Economic and Monetary Union, widely known as the Delors Committee, that in early 1989 proposed the creation of a new currency—the euro—to replace individual national currencies. This was achieved in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.[6]

In opposition to the strident neoliberalism of US president Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) that dominated the American political agenda, Delors promoted an alternative interpretation of capitalism that embedded it in the European social structure. He synthesized three themes.[7] First, from the left came support for the redistribution of wealth and protection of the weakest. Second, a neo-mercantilist approach was designed to maximize European industrial output. And the third was reliance on the marketplace. His emphasis on the social dimension of Europe was and remains central to a strong narrative that became a key element of the self-identification of the European Union.[8]

The Delors presidency is considered to have been the apex of the European Commission's influence on European integration.[3]

Post-presidency

Delors had a longstanding interest in education. As the initiator of a French law in 1971 (la formation professionnelle continue, FPC) requiring firms to set aside part of their profits for educational opportunities for their employees, he also chaired a UNESCO Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century from 1993 to 1996, whose final report was published as Learning: the Treasure Within.[9] This work continues to have a significant influence on discourse on lifelong learning, forming the conceptual foundation for both the Canadian Composite Learning Index as well as the European Lifelong Learning Indicators (ELLI) project.[10][11]

In 1994, members of the Socialist Party attempted to persuade Delors to run for president. Polls showed that he would have a very good chance of defeating either of the main conservative contenders, Prime Minister Édouard Balladur and Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac.[12] However Delors declined to run and the eventual Socialist nominee, Lionel Jospin, was defeated in the 1995 presidential election by Jacques Chirac.[13][14]

Delors founded the Paris-based, centre-left think tank Notre Europe in 1996 and remained one of its presidents for the rest of his life.[15][16] He was president of the Conseil de l'emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale, and an honorary member of both the Institut Aspen France and the Club of Rome.[13]

On 15 September 2010, Delors supported the new initiative Spinelli Group, which was founded to reinvigorate the striving for federalization of the European Union. Other prominent supporters include Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Guy Verhofstadt, Sylvie Goulard, Andrew Duff, and Elmar Brok.[17] In 2010, Delors was the first to be given the Leonardo European Corporate Learning Award.[18]

In 2012, Delors stated in the Handelsblatt newspaper that "If the British cannot support the trend towards more integration in Europe, we can nevertheless remain friends, but on a different basis. I could imagine a form such as a European economic area or a free-trade agreement."[19]

On 25 June 2015, Donald Tusk announced that Delors would become the third person to have the title of Honorary Citizen of Europe bestowed upon them, in recognition of "his remarkable contribution to the development of the European project".[20]

Personal life and death

Delors was married to Marie Lephaille until her death in 2020.[21] They had a daughter, Martine Aubry, who served as First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 2008 to 2012,[1] and a son, Jean-Paul Delors, who was a journalist and died aged 29 in 1982 from leukaemia.[22]

Delors died in his sleep at his home in Paris, on 27 December 2023, aged 98.[23]

Awards

Honours

Selected works

  • Delors, Jacques; Arnaud, Jean-Louis (2004). Mémoires. Paris: Plon. ISBN 978-2-259-19292-7.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "European Commission - Discover the former Presidents - Jacques Delors". Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  2. ↑ "Jacques Delors Facts". biography.yourdictionary.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  3. 1 2 "From community to union: Jacques Delors, champion of Europe". France 24. 27 December 2023. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Ross, George; Jenson, Jane (2017). "Reconsidering Jacques Delors' leadership of the European Union". Journal of European Integration. 39 (2): 113–127. doi:10.1080/07036337.2016.1277718. ISSN 0703-6337. S2CID 151526296.
  5. ↑ "Jacques Delors | French politician". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Michael J. Baun, "The Maastricht Treaty as High Politics: Germany, France, and European Integration." Political Science Quarterly 110.4 (1995): 605–624. online Archived 9 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Warlouzet, Laurent (2017). Governing Europe in a Globalizing World. Neoliberalism and its Alternatives following the 1973 Oil Crisis. London: Routledge. ISBN 9781138729421.
  8. ↑ Alessandra Bitumi, "'An uplifting tale of Europe'. Jacques Delors and the contradictory quest for a European social model in the Age of Reagan." Journal of Transatlantic Studies 16.3 (2018): 203–221 online.
  9. ↑ "UNESCO Task Force on Education, Publications". Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 17 June 2006.
  10. ↑ "Towards an individual right to adult learning for all Europeans". Jacques Delors Institute. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  11. ↑ "ELLI-Index: A sound measure for lifelong learning in the EU". European Commission: Joint Research Centre:DOI:10.2788/145. May 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Drozdiak, William (13 December 1994). "Delors' Vow Not to Run Could Boost French Anti-Europe Forces". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Jacques Delors, one of Europe's greats, has died". Le Monde. 27 December 2023. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Willsher, Kim; Badshah, Nadeem (27 December 2023). "Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, dies aged 98". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  15. ↑ Campbell & Pedersen, John L. & Ove K. (2014). The National Origins of Policy Ideas: Knowledge Regimes in the United States, France, Germany, and Denmark. Princeton, NY: Princeton University Press. p. 339. ISBN 978-0691161167.
  16. ↑ Stone & Ullrich, Diane & Heidi (2013). "Policy research institutes and think tanks in Western Europe: Development trends and perspectives" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  17. ↑ "Spinelli group website, Members of the steering group". Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  18. ↑ "Leonardo". leonardo-award.eu. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  19. ↑ Seddon, Mark (11 August 2017). "Jacques Delors foresaw the perils of austerity. How we need his wisdom now". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Invitation letter by President Donald Tusk to the members of the European Council – Consilium". Europa. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  21. ↑ "En souvenir de Madame MARIE DELORS". libramemoria.com (in French). Archived from the original on 7 July 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  22. ↑ Drake, Helen (11 September 2002). Jacques Delors: Perspectives on a European Leader. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-80399-6. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "Former EU Commission president Jacques Delors dies at 98". France 24. 27 December 2023. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Awards". Roosevelt Institute. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  25. ↑ Index biographique des membres et associés de l'Académie royale de Belgique (1769–2005). p83
  26. ↑ "Pax Christi prize for 2005". Jacques Delors Institute. 31 October 2005. Archived from the original on 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  27. ↑ "Invitation letter by President Donald Tusk to the members of the European Council". European Council. 24 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "Décret du 25 mars 2005 portant promotion". Legifrance. 25 March 2005. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  29. ↑ "Décret du 2 avril 1999 portant promotion et nomination". Legifrance. 2 April 1999. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  30. ↑ "Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg: Liste der Ordensträger 1975 – 2016" (PDF) (in German). Baden-Württemberg. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

Further reading

  • Bitumi, Alessandra. "'An uplifting tale of Europe'. Jacques Delors and the contradictory quest for a European social model in the Age of Reagan." Journal of Transatlantic Studies 16.3 (2018): 203–221.
  • Drake, Helen. Jacques Delors: perspectives on a European leader (Psychology Press, 2000).
  • Drake, Helen. "Political leadership and European integration: the case of Jacques Delors." West European Politics 18.1 (1995): 140–160. Online
  • Endo, Ken. The presidency of the European Commission under Jacques Delors: The politics of shared leadership (Springer, 1999).
  • Ross, George, and Jane Jenson. "Reconsidering Jacques Delors' leadership of the European union." Journal of European Integration 39.2 (2017): 113–127.
  • Van Assche, Tobias. "The impact of entrepreneurial leadership on EU high politics: A case study of Jacques Delors and the creation of EMU." Leadership 1.3 (2005): 279–298.
  • Warlouzet, Laurent. Governing Europe in a Globalizing World. Neoliberalism and its Alternatives following the 1973 Oil Crisis (Routledge, 2017). Online
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