He died at the age of 98 Jacques Delors, French politician and economist of the first magnitude. Known in our country above all for having been one of the fathers of the euro, as well as President of the European Commissiona for 10 years. “He passed away this morning in her house in Paris, in his sleep,” her daughter, Martine Aubry, told Agence France Press.
From the Bank of France to the Commission
Delors was born in Paris in 1925 and in his youth he graduated in economic sciences at the Sorbonne.
In France he held various positions, from 1945 to 1962 Delors worked at Bank of France, first as head of service and then as a member of the cabinet of the director general of securities and money markets. In 1962 Delors was appointed head of service for social and cultural affairs within the General Commissariat for Planning, of which he served until 1969.
He was also economic advisor to Jacques Chaban-Delmas and then general secretary to the prime minister for professional training and social promotion. Delors was among the main inspirers of the reformist political project of the Nouvelle Société carried out by the Chaban-Delmas government and developed, among other things, reforms to labor law and a law on lifelong learning. However, the government managed to put only part of the project into practice, due to the resistance of President Pompidou, his entourage and some of the majority parliamentarians.
Delors also taught atÉcole nationale d'administration and between 1974 and 1979 he taught at the University of Paris IX.
From May 1981 to July 1984, Delors was Minister of Economy and Finance as part of the government led by Pierre Mauroy, appointed prime minister by François Mitterrand a few days after the latter's election to the presidency of the republic. Delors was part of all three governments chaired consecutively by Mauroy, also obtaining budget delegation in the third Mauroy government in office since March 1983.
Delors: one of the fathers of the European Union
Delors still remains the only politician to have held the office of President of the European Commission for three consecutive terms, from January 1985 to January 1995. He was a very charismatic and energetic president, capable of considerably strengthening the role and influence of the Commission.
During Delors' mandate the single market was established, the common agricultural policy was reformed and the Single European Act, the Schengen agreements and above all the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union.
At the end of his mandate he extinguished the hopes of the French left with his rejection of his candidacy in the 1995 presidential elections, a renunciation broadcast on television in front of 13 million viewers. He explained it with personal reasons but above all with the fear that a part of the PS would not support "what was necessary"
