Europe pays tribute to ‘visionary’ ex-EU chief Delors who died at 98

Tributes from across Europe poured in for Jacques Delors, a former EU Commission chief who played an instrumental role in European integration, following his death on Wednesday (27 December) at 98.

European Council President Charles Michel said Delors “led the transformation of the European Economic Community towards a true Union”.

“A great Frenchman and a great European, he went down in history as one of the builders of our Europe,” Michel posted on social media.

Current European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Delors had “shaped entire generations of Europeans, including mine” and was “a visionary who made our Europe stronger”.

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde highlighted Delors’s role for the single European market and “the path he laid out towards our single currency, the euro”.

Europe, she said, “has lost a true statesman”.

‘Statesman with a French destiny’

French President Emmanuel Macron called his fellow countryman a “tireless creator of our Europe”.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Macron said “his commitment, his ideal and his rectitude will always inspire us”.

Delors was “a statesman with a French destiny”, Macron added.

Olivier Faure, head of the French Socialist party where Delors was a towering figure, said “a giant has left us”.

Delors, who served as finance minister under Socialist president Francois Mitterrand, sought to “overcome tragedy by building a durable peace” after World War II ravaged Europe, Faure added.

‘Founding father’

“Modern Europe today loses its founding father,” said Enrico Letta, a former Italian prime minister who currently heads the Jacques Delors Institute created by the ex-EU commission chief.

Writing on X, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani praised “a personality who showed, on the basis of Christian values, the path of strengthening Europe”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed Delors as a “visionary” and an “architect of the EU as we know it”.

Delors fought for European unity “like few others”, Scholz added in a message posted on X, urging Europeans to continue his work for the continent’s benefit.

‘What many thought impossible’

Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also hailed the EU’s “founding father”, whose “project for a stronger and more secure union remains hugely relevant for the Europe of tomorrow”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Delors “always believed in a united, open and prosperous Europe”.

“He worked to make what many thought impossible a reality,” Sanchez wrote on X.

“Jacques Delors was a visionary leader as well as a pragmatic politician who promoted the European idea […] The Greeks do not forget his support and solidarity in every difficult moment of the country”, said in a statement Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis.