Jacques Delors' time as President of the European Commission (1885-1995)
was a period which saw great changes and unprecedented development
towards European Union.
Born in Paris in 1925,
Delors immediately entered the world of finance working in the Banque
de France. He deeply engaged in trade union movement and rose to prominence
as a Christian activist. He joined Socialist Part. As a Socialist
candidate, he was elected to the European Parliament in 1979 and appointed
chairman of the Monetary Affairs Committee.
When Socialist Party came
to power and Mitterrand became president in 1981, Delors was appointed
Finance Minister.
His term as President began
in 1985. He was the single most influential President of the European
Union to date. Under Delors, an Intergovernmental Conference resulted
in the signing of the Single European Act (SEA) in 1986. Then in the
so-called Paquet Delors, he proposed budgetary reforms and changes
to structural fund distribution.
After the approval of the
Paquet Delors, Delors started to focus on the subject of Economic
and Monetary Union, producing a three stage scheme that was eventually
ratified as part of the Maastricht Treaty.
His final years in the
post were marked by severe difficulties within the Union: the rejection
of the Maastricht Treaty following the Danish referendum in June 1992,
and the crisis in the European Monetary System that caused that plans
for Monetary Union were delayed.
His term as President ended
in January 1995.
Juan Carlos Ocaña
History
of the European Union: Integration Process and European Citizenship
