Former President of the European Commission Jacques Delors (1985-1994) He died this Wednesday at the age of 98, his daughter, the former socialist minister and current mayor of Lille, Martine Aubry, told French media.
Delors was economics minister in the first government of the socialist François Mitterrand and represented a centrist wing of the French Socialist Party. Throughout his political career he maintained his Catholic beliefs and his youth union experiences.
In 1985 he replaced Gaston Thorn from Luxembourg as head of the municipal board, a position he held until 1994. In December of the same year, one of the gestures that shaped his political biography took place.ica and announced that he would give up the race for the Elysée seat the following year, despite being one of the big favorites in the polls.
A gesture which, justified by personal reasons such as his age, but also by the political situation – he believed that part of his party would not support him – in practice meant his resignation from the board and the end of his career with the party Age 69.
In Brussels, DElors proved to be a fundamental figure in the further development of European integration. One of his great symbols was the creation of the Erasmus program in 1987. which has since benefited millions of students.
That same year, the Single European Act came into force, marking the culmination of the internal market and the resulting free movement of goods, services, capital and people.