2024-01-06 02:51:25
His speech closed an almost precise ceremony. The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron estimated this Friday that Jacques Delors “will have moved our continent forward like few others”, during the national tribute ceremony to the former president of the European Commission who died on December 27. “Rarely has our Europe progressed so much” than under the presidency of Jacques Delors, continued the Head of State, according to whom he has “reconciled Europe with its future”.
“Jacques Delors never tired of exploring to reconcile, scouting, finding alternatives, building bridges,” said Emmanuel Macron in the courtyard of the Invalides, in the presence of many European leaders. The President of the Republic also spoke of the first steps of Jacques Delors, who “truly reconciled France with Europe”.
A “line by line” contribution to Europe
“The face of Europe today, Jacques Delors helped to draw it, line by line,” added the French president in tribute to the father of the euro who, at the head of the Commission from 1985 to 1995, established the single market, initiated the signing of the Schengen agreements, launched the Erasmus program and reformed the common agricultural policy.
It brought to light “the possibility of an emancipatory social democracy”, welcomed the head of state. “The possibility of a united Europe, that of Schengen, Erasmus, Maastricht, united by common values, from Compostela to the Balkans, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea.”
Emmanuel Macron, a few months before the European elections in June where the National Rally is the favorite in France, assured that his path “continues”. “A difficult path, a crest path, one which moves away from facilities and pretenses, always in imbalance, holds the Nation and Europe, economic strength and social justice, the real and the ideal”, he added. “On December 27, his path did not stop. Jacques Delors just passed the baton to us,” continued Emmanuel Macron.
The head of the executive also returned to the refusal of Jacques Delors to run for the presidency of the Republic in 1995. On December 11, 1994, “he said no to the presidential election meeting, straight in the eye of 12 million French people who hoped for a yes,” declared the Head of State. “The sense of duty, deep down, led him once again away from the paths where he was expected,” he continued.
“Long live Europe, long live the Republic and long live France”
The French president also paid tribute to the former Minister of the Economy under François Mitterrand (1981-1984), who “reconciled the socialism of the government with the market and the French with the economy”. Emmanuel Macron concluded his speech by declaring: “Long live Europe, long live the Republic and long live France. »
After the funeral eulogy of the Head of State, the bells for the dead, the Marseillaise and the Ode to Joy, the European anthem, rang out in the courtyard of the Invalides. Many European leaders, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the leaders of the nationalist camp in Europe, made the trip.
Also present, alongside the mayor of Lille Martine Aubry, daughter of Jacques Delors, were the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the presidents of the Council and the Commission , the Parliament and the European Central Bank.
#Tribute #Jacques #Delors #moved #continent #believes #Emmanuel #Macron