Jacques Delors

Jacques Delors (1925-2023)  started his career at the Banque de France in 1945. He worked there until 1962, and was a member of the Economic and Social Council. He became head of the social affairs department of the General Planning Committee until 1969 before being appointed General Secretary for Permanent Training and Social Promotion (1969-1973). He was a member of Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas’s cabinet (1969-1972), then associate professor at the University of Paris-Dauphine (1974-1979) and director of the research centre ‘Work and Society’.

He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1979 and chaired the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee until May 1981. From May 1981 to July 1984, he was Minister of Economics and Finance and was elected, in the meantime, Mayor of Clichy (1983-1984).

Jacques Delors was president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995.

In October 1996, Jacques Delors founded the Jacques Delors Institute and is today its founding president. In May 2000 he was appointed president of the CERC (Conseil de l’emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale) until July 2009.

From 1992 to 1996, he chaired UNESCO’s International Commission on Education for the 21st century.

He has been awarded the title of Docteur Honoris Causa by 24 universities and won various prizes and distinctions: Prix Jean Monnet (1988), Prix Louis Weiss (1989), Prix Prince des Asturies (1989), Prix Charlemagne (1992), Prix Carlos V (1995), Prix Erasme(1997), Prix de l’économie mondiale (2006). He received the Nijmegen medal of peace in the Netherlands on March 2010.