Скачать с ютуб History: Jacques Delors' Europe в хорошем качестве

History: Jacques Delors' Europe

On January 7th 1985, the newly elected Commission President, Jacques Delors, came before the MEPs. The hemicycle was not new to him. The French politician had been elected into the EU Parliament for the first time in 1979 and over his two-year mandate he was able to impress his colleagues. Jacques Delors was chairing the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. I remember a British colleague - I wasn't on the Committee but he said, 'Jacques Delors used to take the floor and go on and on about all the things we had to do.' And my colleague said, 'At one point I fell asleep and when I woke up Delors was just saying "and my 13th point is..."' We realised this man has a tremendous grasp of detail and a tremendous vision. After three years as Finance Minister under French President Mitterrand, Delors comes back to Europe. He took over a post in a Commission full of resignation. Europe, the EEC and its 10 Member States, was going through a crisis. The German-French duo had lost the dynamism it had in the 70s. The UK and Denmark were becoming evermore eurosceptic. There were many arguments, but few achievements. 'Eurosclerosis' was the new buzzword. There were differences. Some envisaged creating a European stability fund, not going straight into a single currency. Jacques Delors set to work very quickly. Already during his first visit to the EP, he proposed a plan with 300 legislative proposals for the implementation of the single market, which was meant to be up and running properly within seven years, in 1992. Overwhelmed by Delors' enthusiasm, one year after he assumed office, the Member States signed the Reform Treaty, the Single European Act, which went beyond the issue of the single market. We were an economic community. Under Delors we made a step forward with the European Single Act and with the Treaty of Maastricht we really became a political union. For the first time we got the permission, the legal basis, to talk about education, culture and youth. All that was impossible before. The path towards Maastricht was neither easy nor straightforward. The Union, which now included Spain and Portugal, faced the end of the Eastern bloc. The fall of the Berlin Wall directly affected the structure of the Member States. Should a reunification of Germany be permitted? What role would such a larger Germany play? Contrary to his previous boss, the French President, Jacques Delors had no doubts. Tonight you will celebrate this reconciliation. You will sing your hope for the future, for a Europe that will be a region for peace, prosperity and exchange. The Commission President, who had just began a second term with a new team, was held in great esteem by almost every government. Only his relationship with Margaret Thatcher worsened dramatically. The press supporting the British Prime Minister published a really harsh anti-Delors declaration in 1990. But two years earlier, Delors gave a fervent speech in front of the TUC conference and was even able to convince the most eurosceptic British trade unions of Europe. He said, 'Look, brothers, the way to defeat Mrs Thatcher is to do it through Europe.' In that one single speech he changed the opinion and at the end of his speech they all started singing that lovely French children's song 'Frère Jacques'. He completely converted them. With its concrete guidelines on the Economic and Monetary Union, the Maastricht Treaty was signed in January 1991. Delors had done essential preparatory work, dividing the implementation into three steps. The climax was when I got the unanimous agreement of the 17 members of the committee tasked with studying the Economic and Monetary Union and proposing its content and implementation, as, believe me, it was not easy. There were many turbulent meetings and as the Committee President I was often on edge. However, the real problems only came with ratification. Denmark rejected the treaty, first in the Parliament and then in a referendum. Only after having negotiated some exceptional rules did Denmark agree. When it finally came into force in November 1993, Jacques Delors was in his third and last term as Commission President. The single market and the monetary union are undoubtedly among the greatest achievements of the Delors Commission, but nonetheless they are still far from complete. EuroparlTV video ID: 90b20d1a-d4c4-46ae-8d6b-a08c00930a6a