The pragmatic and solidarity-based Europeanism of Jacques Delors

Abstract

ABSTRACT Jacques Delors (1925–2023) was the most influential Europeanist of our time. The close relationship between ideas and pragmatism characterized his social, cultural, and political commitment from his years of militancy in the Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens and La Vie Nouvelle to his leadership of the European Commission (1985–1995). He pragmatically relaunched the European integration process, especially in the period between the Single European Act (1986) and the Maastricht Treaty (1992), without failing to uphold the values of solidarity, equality, and social justice. He demonstrated a pragmatic approach as soon as he took office at the European Commission and the completion of the Single Market ‘by 1992’ became a concrete goal. He applied Jean Monnet’s theory of the spillover effect to create a virtuous mechanism in the progress of the European design, as demonstrated by the realization of the Economic and Monetary Union– real prelude of the single currency. However, after the birth of the European Union, he called for a federating mechanism to make up for the impotence of intergovernmental cooperation; the ‘new European concert’ was to merge into a ‘Federation of nation-states’ that could be realized through the advantages of the ‘federal approach’ and the preservation of nation-states.