The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said this Friday that the former President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, revered in France, “was essential” for the current European Union (EU) and for the accession of Portugal.
“Delors played an important role in creating the Europe we have. He expanded, we owe the entry of Portugal. [na UE] Delors, because he turned around several countries that were against him, deepened the European Union, the euro. And we Portuguese will never forget that he was always on our side, even when others were not,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Speaking to Portuguese journalists in Paris following France’s tribute to Jacques Delors, who died on December 27 at the age of 98, the Portuguese head of state added: “He was always a man of social problems, social rights, people, not people.” from Europe only business, economics and finance.”
“We need to continue expanding, deepening the social aspect, paying attention, for example, to healthcare after the lessons of the pandemic. […], but Europe is much closer to people’s rights. This will be the only way to fight populism,” said the President of the Republic in a statement made in the Invalides building, the place chosen for the ceremony.
Several European leaders, including Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will attend a tribute to French politician and former European Commission President Jacques Delors this Friday in Paris.
The ceremony is conducted by the head of the French state, Emmanuel Macron.
According to the French President, the French state intends to pay tribute to the “architect of a united Europe,” without whom France would be “less than the master of its destiny.”
France invited all heads of state and government of the European Union (EU), as well as presidents of public institutions, current or in office, while Social Democrat Jacques Delors was in Brussels from 1985 to 1995.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be accompanied by his predecessor Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who also “was prime minister during the entire Delors tenure,” and José Manuel Durao Barroso, who presided over the European Commission (2004-2014).
Leaders confirming their presence also include German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Belgian and Hungarian prime ministers Alexander De Croo and Viktor Orban, respectively.
A figure in the construction of the European project and considered the “father of the euro”, Jacques Delors was President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995 (for three terms).
Within the EU, he became famous for approving the Single European Act in 1986, which led to the creation of the Single Market, the first of its kind in the world, in 1993.
He was the protagonist of the transformation of the European Community into the European Union, which allowed the transition to a single currency (the euro) and increased defense cooperation.
An inescapable name on the French left, he was also France’s finance minister and a member of the European Parliament.
Jacques Delors dashed the hopes of this party wing by refusing to stand in the 1995 French presidential election. He was the favorite in the polls at the time.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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