The French nation paid homage to him yesterday, in a ceremony at the Hôtel des Invalides. Emmanuel Macron naturally delivered the eulogy (which I tuned out, as did no doubt many others who were watching) and with Socialist old-timers from the Mitterrand years, among others, in attendance. Jacques Delors was one of the most consequential French political figures of the past forty years (certainly in the top 5, if not top 3), on account of his two terms as President of the European Commission (1985-95)—by far the most consequential Commission president ever—during which his action was guided by the higher interests of Europe—of advancing the project of European integration—but which were perfectly congruent with those of France. Without Monsieur Delors, the single currency, i.e. the euro, would have likely not seen the light of day. Putting aside debates over the (German-dictated) architecture of the single currency, it is hard to argue that France, in view of the state of its public finances, would have been better off with the franc rather than the euro. And thanks to Delors we have Schengen and the Erasmus program, both incontestably good things for France and Europe (and, speaking personally, with the Erasmus experience impacting positively on the life trajectory of my daughter).
The only governmental post Delors held in France was his three year stint (1981-84) as Minister of the Economy and Finance during François Mitterrand’s first term, but he was hugely consequential here as well, as the inspiration behind the 1983 tournant de la rigueur: persuading President Mitterrand to radically shift course in macroeconomic policy, away from Keynesianism and toward prioritizing combating inflation, i.e. adopting what came to be called “neoliberalism.” Whether or not this was a good or necessary thing at the time—a good part of the French left, including in the Socialist party itself, think not—is not a particularly interesting question IMHO, as it’s all water under the bridge and with the neoliberal turn the consequence of tectonic shifts in the global economy that France could have hardly resisted. If there had been no tournant de la rigueur and Mitterrand had replaced Delors with, say, Jean-Pierre Chevènement at the Rue de Rivoli, the left would have likely lost the 1986 legislative elections by an even wider margin than it did, and with the right doing the dirty work.
Delors, as we know, was seen as the left’s savior for the 1995 presidential election—the PS was ready to hand the candidacy to him on a silver platter—but he famously declined to run (everyone was riveted to his interview on Anne Sinclair’s show on that December 1994 Sunday evening). He didn’t want the job. Could he have outperformed Lionel Jospin’s 47% in the 1995 second round, even defeating Jacques Chirac? Many think so but I doubt it. It’s hard to imagine the social-liberal practicing Catholic Delors leading the French left at that time. Or since. But whatever.
Delors’s English-language biographer, Charles Grant, who is director of the indispensable Centre for European Reform in London—indispensable as a source of information, research, and analysis on the European Union—discussed Delors’s legacy in Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman’s podcast last Thursday. Grant also has a lengthy “Ten Reflections on Jacques Delors” on the CER website, which begins: “Jacques Delors’ impact on history, especially during the ten years that he headed the European Commission, was immense. He was the father of the European single market, while the euro would not have been created, in the way it was, when it was, without him.” Le Monde has translated for its English edition its editorial on Delors’s passing, “The dual legacy of Jacques Delors.” The lede: “The course charted by the former president of the European Commission remains relevant today, as the deceptive winds of narrow nationalism prepare to sweep through the European elections in June 2024.”
The European elections in June… 😨
Arun with a View 