Jacques Delors | |
---|---|
![]() Delors in 1993 | |
President of the European Commission | |
In office 7 January 1985 – 24 January 1995 | |
Vice President | Frans Andriessen |
Preceded by | Gaston Thorn |
Succeeded by | Jacques Santer |
Mayor of Clichy | |
In office 19 March 1983 – 19 December 1984 | |
Preceded by | Gaston Roche |
Succeeded by | Gilles Catoire |
Minister of Finance | |
In office 22 May 1981 – 17 July 1984 | |
Prime Minister | Pierre Mauroy |
Preceded by | René Monory |
Succeeded by | Pierre Bérégovoy |
Member of the European Parliament | |
In office 1 July 1979 – 25 May 1981 | |
Constituency | East France |
Personal details | |
Born | Jacques Lucien Jean Delors 20 July 1925 Paris, France |
Died | 27 December 2023 Paris, France | (aged 98)
Political party | Socialist |
Spouse |
Marie Lephaille
(m. 1948; died 2020) |
Children | 2, including Martine |
Alma mater | University 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 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.