The only person to have led the European Commission three times, from 1985 to 1995, is the illustrious member of the French Socialist Party. The CAP reform, the Schengen agreement, and the Maastricht years
Brussels: He remains the only individual to have held three terms as President of the European Commission. One of the founding fathers of the euro, he was there at Berlaymont Palace when the Maastricht Treaty, the Schengen agreements, and the single market were signed, along with a reform of the common agricultural policy. Today, December 27, Jacques Delors, a “giant” of Europe, departed from this life at the age of 98. President Roberta Metsola of the European Parliament paid tribute to him.
The mayor of Lille and a seasoned politician, Martine Aubry, his daughter, said, “He passed away this morning at his home in Paris in his sleep.” A prominent member of the French left, Jacques Delors supported Francois Mitterand’s Socialist Party in 1974. He was elected to the European Parliament in Brussels five years later, where he oversaw the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. However, he resigned from the European Parliament in 1981 after being named minister of economy in the socialist administration of Pierre Mauroy. He was named president of the European Executive in 1985 following discussions with Margaret Thatcher, the British prime minister at the time, and on the Franco-German axis. Up till 1995.
“Jacques Delors’ passing leaves the EU grieving the loss of a titan. As the final honorary European citizen, he devoted his life to bringing about European unity while serving as both the president of the European Commission and a member of the European Parliament. The European Parliament President Roberta Metsola tweeted, “His legacy will continue to benefit generations of Europeans.” In order to honour Delors, the man who “led the transformation of the European Economic Community towards a true Union, based on humanist values and supported by a single market and a single currency, the euro,” Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, also turned to X.
