A look back at former European Commission President Jacques Delors, whose work shaped the European single market and paved the way for Economic and Monetary Union.

History: Jacques Delors' Europe

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/19529121/v001-0022-en_mf.srt

the newly elected Commission President,  Jacques Delors, came before the MEPs.

The French politician had been elected into  the EU Parliament for the first time in 1979

and over his two-year mandate  he was able to impress his colleagues.

Jacques Delors was chairing the Economic  and Monetary Affairs Committee.

I remember a British colleague -  I wasn't on the Committee

but he said, 'Jacques Delors  used to take the floor

and go on and on  about all the things we had to do.'

And my colleague said,  'At one point I fell asleep

and when I woke up Delors was just  saying "and my 13th point is..."'

We realised this man has a tremendous  grasp of detail and a tremendous vision.

After three years as Finance Minister  under French President Mitterrand,

He took over a post  in a Commission full of resignation.

Europe, the EEC and its 10 Member States,  was going through a crisis.

The German-French duo had lost  the dynamism it had in the 70s.

The UK and Denmark were becoming  evermore eurosceptic.

There were many arguments,  but few achievements.

Some envisaged creating  a European stability fund,

not going straight into a single currency.

Jacques Delors set to work  very quickly.

Already during his first visit to the EP,  he proposed a plan

with 300 legislative proposals  for the implementation of the single market,

which was meant to be up and running  properly within seven years, in 1992.

one year after he assumed office, the  Member States signed the Reform Treaty,

which went beyond  the issue of the single market.

Under Delors we made a step forward  with the European Single Act

and with the Treaty of Maastricht  we really became a political union.

For the first time we got the permission,  the legal basis,

to talk about education, culture and youth.  All that was impossible before.

The path towards Maastricht  was neither easy nor straightforward.

The Union, which now included Spain and  Portugal, faced the end of the Eastern bloc.

The fall of the Berlin Wall directly affected  the structure of the Member States.

Should a reunification of Germany  be permitted?

What role would such  a larger Germany play?

Contrary to his previous boss,  the French President,

Tonight you will celebrate  this reconciliation.

You will sing your hope  for the future,

for a Europe that will be a region  for peace, prosperity and exchange.

The Commission President, who had  just began a second term with a new team,

was held in great esteem  by almost every government.

Only his relationship with Margaret  Thatcher worsened dramatically.

The press supporting  the British Prime Minister

published a really harsh  anti-Delors declaration in 1990.

But two years earlier, Delors gave a fervent  speech in front of the TUC conference

and was even able to convince the most  eurosceptic British trade unions of Europe.

He said, 'Look, brothers, the way to defeat  Mrs Thatcher is to do it through Europe.'

In that one single speech  he changed the opinion

they all started singing that lovely  French children's song 'Frère Jacques'.

With its concrete guidelines  on the Economic and Monetary Union,

the Maastricht Treaty  was signed in January 1991.

Delors had done essential preparatory work,  dividing the implementation into three steps.

The climax was when I got the unanimous  agreement of the 17 members

of the committee tasked with studying  the Economic and Monetary Union

and proposing its content  and implementation,

and as the Committee President  I was often on edge.

However, the real problems  only came with ratification.

Denmark rejected the treaty, first  in the Parliament and then in a referendum.

Only after having negotiated some  exceptional rules did Denmark agree.

When it finally  came into force in November 1993,

Jacques Delors was in his third  and last term as Commission President.

The single market  and the monetary union are undoubtedly

among the greatest achievements  of the Delors Commission,

but nonetheless they are still  far from complete.