Brussels, 03/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 3 December, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker paid tribute to former French commissioner Jacques Barrot, who died the same day. “I'm very sad that Jacques Barrot has passed away. France has lost a great man and I have lost a friend”, he said, having known Barrot since 1979.
“I greatly appreciated his work as a French minister and more than appreciated his work as a French commissioner in Brussels”, Juncker said. Juncker's predecessor, José Manuel Barroso, under whom Barrot was a commissioner, expressed his “deep regret for the death of Jacques Barrot - a friend, a former commissioner and a great European”.
In the opinion of Alain Lamassoure, the head of the French delegation in the EPP Group at the European Parliament, Barrot's passing away means that France has lost “a statesman of rare quality, unstintingly open to dialogue, passionate about serving France and Europe, and devoted to concrete achievements”. “Driven by a faith in Europe that he never compromised, Jacques Barrot was an effective craftsman of a Europe of results”, Lamassoure stated, who like Barrot, is a member of the French UMP party (our translation throughout).
Barrot, who died aged 77, was European Commissioner for Regional Policy in 2004, for Transport from 2004-2008 and for Justice from 2008-2009. He also served as a French minister from 1978-1981 and from 1995-1997. (CG)