“The man with capital letters”: The President of the Republic paid tribute to Jacques Delors

The President of the Republic remembered Jacques Delors, who died this Wednesday at the age of 98, as “a great mentor in the evolution of the Communities towards the European Union” and personifying “European construction itself.”

“Today a man with capital letters left us,” says Marcelo Rebelo de Souza in a note published on the website of the President of the Republic.

The head of state highlights the role of Jacques Delors in the “evolution of the Communities towards the European Union” and as “the mobilization of the major reforms of the 80s and 90s, institutional and financial, the expansion through Portugal and Spain.”

“Jacques Delors personifies European construction itself for many Europeans. But also the value of work and self-affirmation through one’s own path of self-education, the promotion of social justice, respect for human rights, the importance of others,” he also states.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also credits Delors with “respecting and reaffirming that Europe should be the building of its peoples and its states.”

“Europe will belong to everyone, whether it provides support or not, to those who need it most and to those who are more fortunate, to those from the south as well as to those from the north, east or the West, theirs and theirs, everything, everything, everything,” emphasizes the President of the Republic, paraphrasing Pope Francis.

Speaking about the “militantly progressive Catholicism” of the former President of the European Commission, Marcelo believes that Delors always found within himself the strength “to overcome difficulties, to find solutions, to preserve the unity and expansion of Europe, a project that has always been a project of peace, of progress.” and well-being, a common path to solving common problems.”

“To his family, to the European Commission, to all his many friends and admirers, the President of the Republic expresses his feelings and praises this figure who will not leave us,” he adds.

Former European Commission President Jacques Delors died this Wednesday in Paris at the age of 98, his daughter Martine Aubry told France Presse (AFP).

A figure in the construction of the European project and considered the “father of the euro”, Jacques Delors was President of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995 for three terms, including Portugal’s accession to the European Union (1986).

In 1986, the Single European Act was adopted, which led to the creation of the European Single Market in 1993.

The signing of the Schengen Agreements, the launch of the Erasmus student exchange program, the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the launch of the Economic and Monetary Union, leading to the creation of the euro, are other moments of the European project associated with Delors.

A member of the French Socialist Party in 1974 and its steering committee in 1979, he was elected as a European Parliamentarian in 1979 and chaired the Economic and Monetary Commission until May 1981.

From May 1981 to July 1984, Jacques Delors was Minister of Economy and Finance, and was also elected President of the Chamber of Clichy from 1983 to 1984.