Awarded National tribute in Les Invalides (2024).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement

Figure timeline
Jacques Lucien Jean Delors was a French politician who served as president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the European single market, the euro and the evolution of the (then) European Economic Community (EEC) towards the modern European Union (EU).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
politics · French politician (1925–2023) · economist · politician · trade unionist · banker · official · mayor · also Jacques Delors, Delors
Born 20 July 1925 · Died 27 December 2023 · Q153425
64 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
3 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
Awarded National tribute in Les Invalides (2024).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Guardian: Jacques Delors obituary
Mint: Former EU Commission President Jacques Delors dies at 98
Yahoo: Jacques Delors, statesman who shaped European Union, dies at 98
Irish Sun: Jacques Delors dead – former European Commission president, inventor of Euro & founder of single market dies aged 98
clickondetroit.com: Jacques Delors, architect of the modern EU and ‘Mr. Europe,’ dies aged 98
Yahoo: Jacques Delors, architect of the modern European Union who clashed repeatedly with Margaret Thatcher – obituary
The Guardian: Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, dies aged 98
Voice of America: Jacques Delors, Father of European Integration, Dies at 98
Died 2023-12-27.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“We must define the political Europe that we want. We must plead for the federal approach.”
“Europe is a commercial giant and an economic power of the first rank, but it is a political dwarf. Political cooperation in the Community will grow. The question is whether the supply services will follow.”
“I take what is good where I find it. I am for what the Anglo-Saxons call a 'policy mix' in the context of a mixed economy. ... I would simply say...without wishing to offend anyone, that you appreciate the distance which separates British Leyland from Renault. We want to have more Renaults. It is the difference between an industrial policy which succeeds and one which does not.”
“Socialism was not the socialization of losses and the privatization of profits.”
“The social and human balance of our societies depend on the farming world.”
“If we do not succeed with political union...then the historic decline of Europe which began with the First World War will resume.”
“The crux is the reform of the treaty which would lead to common action. There must be a will to defend the central interests of Europe. If there is no majority voting, then the same level of impotence will continue.”
“Cars are free to circulate but still there are speed limits, therefore I do not see why, at the international level, we should not study ways to limit monetary movements. Bankers cannot act at will. ... Why should we not draw up some rules of the game?”
“Federalism is a guideline, not a pornographic word, you can speak it out loud...We have been focusing too much on a country that has said no, no, no!”
“[Only federalism] allows democratic control and can punish abuses of power. Only federalism can guarantee respect for national character and regional variety. ... The springtime of Europe is still before us.”
“[The European Union must be a] federal union with a common currency, a tightly co-ordinated economic policy and a foreign policy capable of common diplomatic and military action. ... Britain is refusing to face reality. Does England have a future outside Europe? No. But it is difficult for a great nation to bid farewell to its golden age.”
“What is perceived as a cost by some will turn out to be the competitive advantage of Europe by helping maintain a well-trained, secure workforce, open to change.”
“Politicians who attack the dream of a federal Europe are racist bigots intent on undermining the Continent's freedom and peace.”
“What I see is European construction drifting towards a free-trade zone, that is to say an English-style Europe, which I reject. If we do nothing, this will lead in 15 years to a break-up. I reject a Europe that would be just a market, a free-trade zone without a soul, without a conscience, without political will, without a social dimension.”
“Europe will have 30 million unemployed by the end of the century if the continent's competitiveness and employment patterns are not rapidly changed. ... Europe's economic performance against America and Asia was declining and that the Community was faced with a choice between further decline and survival.”
Awarded honorary citizen of Europe (2015).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (2013).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“If the British cannot support the trend towards more integration in Europe, we can nevertheless remain friends, but on a different basis. I could imagine a form such as a European economic area or a free-trade agreement.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Delors stated in the Handelsblatt newspaper that "If the British cannot support the trend towards more integration in Europe, we can nevertheless remain friends, but on a different basis
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded honorary doctor of the Catholic University of Paris (2011).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Leonardo Award (2010).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Delors was the first to be given the Leonardo European Corporate Learning Award
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Global Economy Prize (2006).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Commander of the Legion of Honour (2005).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won: France (2005).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Officer of the Legion of Honour (1999).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Catalonia International Prize (1998).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Erasmus Prize (1997).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded German citizenship award (1997).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And remained one of its presidents for the rest of his life
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Ernst Reuter Medal (1995).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Robert Schuman Medal (1995).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“My feeling is that we will not be able to take all the decisions which will be necessary from now until 1995 unless there is the embryo of a European government in one form or another.”
Awarded honorary doctorate of the University of Salamanca (1994).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Members of the French Socialist Party attempted to persuade Delors to run for president of France
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Charlemagne Prize (1992).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Won Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal in Middelburg (1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded honorary doctor of the University of Antwerp (1990).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation (1989).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry (1987).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Grand Cross of the Military Order of Christ (1986).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (1985).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Awarded Knight of the Legion of Honour (1985).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: President of the European Commission (1985–1995).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Minister of the Economy, Finances and Industry (1983–1984).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Mayor of Clichy (1983–1984).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Minister of the Economy, Finances and Industry (1981–1983).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Minister of the Economy, Finances and Industry (1981–1981).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career landmark: Member of the European Parliament (1979–1981).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Joined the Socialist Party, with other left-wing Christians
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
(la formation professionnelle continue, FPC) requiring firms to set aside part of their profits for educational opportunities for their employees, he also chaired a UNESCO Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Cen
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Became social affairs adviser to the Gaullist Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas, a move which was presented as part of Chaban's outreach to the centre-ground and first attracted media attention to Delors personally
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Delors left the CFDT when he became a high government official to avoid conflicts of interests
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1925-07-20.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
I take what is good where I find it. I am for what the Anglo-Saxons call a 'policy mix' in the context of a mixed economy. ... I would simply say...without wishing to offend anyone, that you appreciate the distance which separates British Leyland from Renault. We want to have more Renaults. It is the difference between an industrial policy which succeeds and one which does not.
Connections