Tributes pour in for European statesman Jaques Delors

Tributes are pouring in for Jacques Delors, the former president of the European Commission, who has died at the age of 98, according to French media reports citing his daughter Martine Aubry.

Delors played a critical role in designing the euro and creating the single market during his time in office in Brussels from 1985 to 1995.

In that period, the Maastricht Treaty transformed the European Communities into the European Union.

The "Delors Report" paved the way for economic and monetary union.

Delors was honoured as an Honorary Citizen of Europe in 2015 for his "remarkable contribution to the development of the European project." Other Honorary Citizens of Europe include former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of European unification.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Delors a "visionary who made our Europe stronger" in a post on X. His life's work is a united, dynamic and prosperous European Union that has shaped entire generations of Europeans, she wrote.

The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, wrote that the EU had lost a giant with the death of Jacques Delors, also on X.

As an honorary citizen of Europe, he worked tirelessly for a united Europe as president of the European Commission and Member of the European Parliament, she said. "Generations of Europeans will continue to benefit from his legacy."

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Delors on X as a "fighter for human justice" and a "statesman of French destiny."

Macron wrote: "His commitment, his ideals and his righteousness will always inspire us. I honour his work and his memory and share the pain of his loved ones."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Delors a politician who "did more than almost anyone else" to promote European unification.

"For a decade, he headed the European Commission and, as a visionary, became the master builder of the EU as we know it today," Scholz wrote on X. "It is our responsibility to continue his work today for the good of Europe."

A French Socialist born in Paris in 1925, Delors ran the European Commission from 1985.

He first became known in France as a deputy governor of the French central bank. A centrist, he only joined the French Socialist Party in 1974.

He then became economic policy spokesman to French former president Francois Mitterrand, before becoming minister of the economy and finance in 1981.

On departing from the Commission post, he was praised as a visionary with a highly analytical mind. Others said he had put a soul in the faceless business of European integration.

He is also remembered for his swift encouragement for the reunification of Germany in 1990.