European Commission

The Delors CommissionThe Delors Commission

The Maastricht Treaty

The Maastricht Treaty

The Delors Commission held office from January 1985 until December 1994. It oversaw important budgetary reforms and gave new momentum to the process of European integration, notably presiding over the signature of the Single European Act in February 1986. Jacques Delors and his commissioners are considered as the "Founding Fathers of the Euro". They also completed the foundation of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) established by the Treaty of Maastricht (1992). The end of its mandate was marked by the EU's third enlargement: in 1995, the EU-12 welcomed three new Member States (Austria, Finland and Sweden).

Jacques Delors in profile

  • Jacques Lucien Jean Delors was born on 20 July 1925 in Paris. He is a French economist and politician
  • From 1945 to 1962, Delors worked for Bank of France before joining the General Planning Agency [Commissariat général du Plan]. In 1969, he became an adviser to the Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas. Delors served as Economics and Finance Minister from 1981 to 1984. Since 2000, he has led the Council for Employment, Income and Social Cohesion
  • At European level, he served in the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981 where he led the Commission responsible for Economic and Monetary Affairs. He also was behind the European Social Charter (1961) and the Erasmus programmes
  • He was a visiting professor at Paris-Dauphine University (1974-1979) and at the National School of Administration (France). From 1992 to 1996, he chaired a UNESCO Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century. From 1995 to 1999, he was President of the Administrative Board at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium)

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