Jacques Delors was born in Paris in 1925 into a humble family.
He began his career at the Bank of France in 1945, after studying Economics at the Sorbonne.
Involved in politics and trade unionism from a young age, he joined the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC) in 1944.
In 1979, when he was 54 years old, Delors was elected Member of the European Parliament. He chaired the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs until 1981, when he was appointed Minister of Economy, Finance and Budget in Pierre Mauroy’s government.
Two years later he was elected president of the Clichy Chamber.
The founding father of the EU single market
He was appointed president of the European Commission in January 1985, a position he held for a decade.
Approved the Single European Act, which led to the creation of the Single European Market. Another achievement was the launch of the Economic and Monetary Union which gave rise to the single currency.
The Economic and Monetary Union became the central axis of the Maastricht Treaty, the biggest change since the beginning of the bloc. The Treaty on which Delors worked hard came into force on 1 November 1993, two years before the end of his term.
She tried to return to French politics, but ended up withdrawing her candidacy from the 1995 elections. She did not have enough support and did not want to interfere in the career of her daughter, socialist politician Martine Aubry.
Jacques Delors’ wife died in 2020.