Jacques Delors, passionate architect of European Unity, dies at the age of 98

The reluctance in France and Great Britain kept the commitment to political unity, an ambitious United States of Europe, weak. Yet four countries – Austria, Norway, Finland and Sweden – joined the union during Mr Delors’ presidency.

Mr. Delors married Marie Lephaille in 1948. She died in 2020. Their son, Jean-Paul, died of leukemia in 1982. Their daughter, Mrs. Aubry, is a leading socialist politician and long-time mayor of Lille, a city in the north of the country. France. In addition to her, Mr. Delors’ survivors include a granddaughter.

Towards the end of his term, Mr Delors was increasingly seen as an arrogant man bent on strengthening the European Union’s power over its member states. Critics say the rise of a school of Eurosceptic politicians in France, Britain and Denmark in the 1990s was a response to his overreach and part of his legacy.

However, he remained popular in France. In 1994, he declined to run for president even though polls gave him a wide lead over Jacques Chirac, the eventual winner.

He was also held up wistfully by some in Europe as an example of leadership in the depths of the euro crisis.

“If Delors were in charge in Europe, Mitterrand in France and Kohl in Germany,” said Theodoros Pangalos, Greece’s deputy prime minister, in 2010, “things would not be the same.”

Paul Lewisa former European correspondent for The Times, died in 2022. Landon Thomas, Aurelien Breeden and Herbert Buchsbaum contributed reporting.