Politics - Thought leader and honorary European citizen: Jacques Delors is dead
The Frenchman Jacques Delors belonged to the very small circle of politicians who are counted among the "fathers" of European unification. In recent years, he has only rarely spoken out on current political issues, but he took an interest in the seemingly endless crises of the European Union well into old age.
During the coronavirus pandemic, he warned of a lack of solidarity, which posed a "mortal danger to the EU". Now the former President of the EU Commission has died at the age of 98.
Delors, who was born in Paris on July 20, 1925, will go down in history as a great Frenchman and a great European as one of the builders of "our Europe", wrote EU Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday on the Frenchman's death on the online platform X. The French news agency AFP had previously reported that her father had died, citing Delors' daughter Martine Aubry.
Picture-book career in France
In his home country, Delors, who came from the east of the French capital, had a picture-book career, from employee of the French National Bank to minister. When he was appointed to the finance portfolio by the then Socialist President François Mitterrand in 1981, it was largely unexpected. "I knew nothing," he later wrote in his memoirs.
In "Europe's capital", Delors then worked as a master builder of the European single market. Together with others, he laid the foundations of the European Monetary Union.
"Europe not only needs firefighters, but also architects," Delors once said. The socialist was lucky at the head of the EU authority. He had the backing of Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
"After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the trio quickly realized that German reunification had to go hand in hand with a new stage in the integration of the continent: the creation of monetary union," the respected daily newspaper "Le Monde" once wrote.
During Delors' term of office in Brussels from 1985 to 1995, the Maastricht Treaty transformed the European Communities into the European Union. The "Delors Report" paved the way for economic and monetary union.
Controversies with Margaret Thatcher
While the Eastern Bloc was collapsing and the question of German reunification was rekindling old resentments, Delors worked on deepening cooperation. There were fierce controversies at the time with Great Britain's "Iron Lady", Margaret Thatcher (1925 to 2013).
In Brussels, the sober-looking Delors also tried to gain "intellectual control" over the meetings of European heads of state and government.
Did he succeed? By his own admission, yes, because his recipe was short memos for the leaders, "three to five pages, with a number of limited but important points to decide on". In 2015, two decades after his departure, an EU summit named him an "Honorary Citizen of Europe".
Delors clearly warned of design flaws in the single currency: the second pillar, namely the common economic policy, was missing. The former top politician often showed foresight: in an interview in 2012 - long before the Brexit vote in the UK - he suggested that the UK should leave the EU.
After leaving the EU, Delors decided against running for the French presidency - even though he would have had a good chance. The bitter disappointment among some French people left a lasting mark on Delors' image at home. He himself summed up in a documentary that he might have been able to advance a number of issues that were close to his heart. But once a decision had been made, one had to stand by it.
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- Martine Aubry, the daughter of the late Jacques Delors, confirmed his death to the French news agency AFP.
- Delors, who was a Honorary citizen of Europe, worked closely with former President François Mitterrand of France and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl during his tenure at the EU Commission.
- Despite his advanced age, Delors continued to express concern about the crises facing the European Union, including a lack of solidarity during the Coronavirus pandemic.
- In his home country of France, Delors had a distinguished career, serving as an employee of the French National Bank and eventually becoming a minister under Mitterrand.
- During his time in Brussels, Delors made important contributions to the European single market and the European Monetary Union.
- Delors' work in deepening cooperation between European countries was not without controversy, particularly with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
- After leaving the EU Commission, Delors declined to run for the French presidency, citing a desire to stand by his decisions.
- In 2015, two decades after his departure from the EU, an EU summit honored Delors with the title of Honorary Citizen of Europe.
Source: www.stern.de
