Former EU Commission president Jacques Delors dies aged 98

27 December 2023, 17:32 | Updated: 27 December 2023, 23:16

Former EU Commission president Jacques Delors has died aged 98.

Delors died in his sleep at home in Paris on Wednesday, according to Agence France Presse citing his daughter Martine Aubry.

He was a founding father of the European Union's historic single currency project, serving as president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995.

He was also involved in several other major steps in the bloc's integration such as the creation of the common market and the Erasmus programme for student exchanges.

But Delors' drive for increased integration saw him involved in several skirmishes between Brussels and Britain.

He regularly clashed with Margaret Thatcher over their different political visions for Europe.

In 1990, Thatcher said "no, no, no" as she issued a Commons rebuke to Delors as he sought greater Brussels control.

In November of the same year, a front page of The Sun - under the headline "Up Yours Delors" - urged readers to face France and shout the insult in a bid to protect the British pound.

Read more: Band of Brothers director David Leland dies aged 82 as Pierce Brosnan leads tributes

Read more: 'Godfather' of avocado on toast Bill Granger dies aged 54

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Delors, saying: "Statesman of French destiny. Inexhaustible craftsman of our Europe. Fighter for human justice. Jacques Delors was all of that.

"His commitment, his ideals and his righteousness will always inspire us. I salute his work and his memory and share the pain of his loved ones."

Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, said: "Thank you Mr President! Jacques Delors was for many of us, well beyond political divisions, a source of inspiration and a reason to believe in a 'certain idea' of politics, of France and of Europe.

"From Jacques Chaban Delmas' team to this exemplary presidency of the European Commission. A humanist at the service of cooperation and solidarity between Europeans.

"With all my heart, I share the pain of @MartineAubry, his family and his friends."

Former prime minister Boris Johnson said: "Jacques Delors was the pre-eminent architect of the modern European Union and whether you agreed or not with his vision he was a towering political figure.

"Without Delors there would have been no Maastricht treaty and no euro. Indeed, without Delors there would have been no single market.

"He harnessed post-Cold War anxieties about Germany to create a new federal structure for Europe and he did it with dazzling panache.

"His ideas were never right for Britain, as he himself later seemed to concede, and there are many on the continent who have doubts about the direction of the EU.

"But no-one can doubt his legacy today. Whatever you say about the modern EU, it is the house that Jacques built."

A UK Government spokesman said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Jacques Delors. A great statesman who had a profound impact on millions across Europe."