Jacques Delors
Jacques Delors
Jacques Lucien Jean Delorsis a French economist and politician, previously the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office. He is the father of Martine Aubry, the former first secretaryof the Socialist Party of France...
fresh hard lucid
I had to think whether, after 50 years of hard slog, I was still lucid and fresh enough for the job.
against change struggle
We have to struggle against the conservatives from all sides, not only the right-wingers, but also the left-wing conservatives who don't want to change anything.
careful disperse intervene moment putting
I am being careful not to disperse my energies, so that, when the right moment comes, I can intervene by putting the right question.
days fix leaders meeting party quick though trade
Yes, though these days you can't just fix things with a quick meeting of ministers, party leaders and trade unionists, like Monnet did.
cent democracy ideal national per social state swedish
Swedish social democracy used to be my ideal model, yet by the 1980s their state had started to take 56 per cent of national income.
citizenship current democracy europe impossible posing question speak within
It is impossible to speak of citizenship in Europe without posing the question of the current weakening of democracy within each of our countries.
bring change clinton compassion elected gore order
Clinton and Gore told me that they were elected in order to bring some compassion to this society. But they have not managed to change much.
guy cinema weak
Cinema explains American society. It's like a Western, with good guys and bad guys, where the weak don't have a place.
way favour individual
Fundamentally, American society is composed of individuals who don't go out of their way to do each other favours.
government agreement unions
If you don't have collective agreements between unions and employers, governments have to legislate more.
unions economics accepting
Any union that can't accept workers choosing their own representatives through universal franchise is finished.
leader political groups
These days there are not enough of such intermediary groups, between the state and the individual, with the result that political leaders are often unduly guided by opinion polls.
aggravation europe france
I cannot resign myself to the decline of Europe, and of France.
responsibility europe principles
The European model is in danger if we obliterate the principle of personal responsibility.