Jacques Delors, a son of a Paris bank messenger born who rose to the position of chief executive of the European Union and became a visionary and builder of a more unified Europe, has died in Paris at the age of 98, the Delors Institute think tank told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “The whole of Europe mourns the death of one of its greatest architects,” the institute said in a statement. “The best results of European integration cannot be dissociated from the vision, the courage, the conviction, the perseverance and the relentless work which characterized Jacques Delors’ work during his 10 years at the head of the European Commission.”
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office paid tribute to him, acknowledging that Delors had never allowed his meteoric rise to cloud his human righteousness. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also commended Delors for becoming the builder of the EU as we know it today and called on the responsibility to continue his work today for the good of Europe.
Under his leadership, the EU member countries agreed to tear down barriers that prevented the free movement of capital, goods, services, and people. He was also instrumental in drawing up the blueprint for economic and monetary union, which led to the creation of the European Central Bank and the euro currency.
Many considered him to be an influential figure in constructing a more united Europe since the postwar founders of the Common Market decided to bind their nations together to prevent another war. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, he prepared the organization for the admission of former communist countries from Eastern Europe. However, some felt that Delors overreached and became alienated from European leaders who became “fed up with this guy who hogged the limelight.”
Jacques Delors was a rarity in French public life: a self-made man from a working-class home who did not come up through the prestigious “grandes ecoles,” taking night school classes in economics. He was considered to be a man of contradictions, a socialist trade unionist who once worked for a Gaullist prime minister, a practicing Catholic, a patriotic Frenchman with a vision of a unified Europe. His pursuit has left an indelible mark on Europe.