Just over a year ago, on 27 December 2023, Jacques Delors died at the age of 98. His passing was noted by the general public and many senior political figures; it was reported widely in the media, our agency being no exception. In this very column, I spoke of him as ‘the man whose legacy was not respected’ (see EUROPE 13320/1). To this day, I maintain that by 1995 at the latest, if not before, the capitals of Europe were unquestionably making haste to ignore the White Paper he produced to bring them into the 21st century and to weaken the European Commission. Yet it would be incorrect to conclude from this that he left no intellectual bequest.
Published in 2003, Jacques Delors’ Mémoires were met with critical respect and acclaim and came out in paperback the following year. The book was easy to read. It set out, without emotion, the author’s career, with his commonly known achievements, but also his failures and his aspirations. His personal popularity and the accessibility of his political line of argument were not enough to prevent the constitutional treaty, to which he made his own particular contribution, from being rejected in 2005.
Did Jacques Delors’ political thinking and methodology inspire other major political figures? The list might include Helmut Kohl, Felipe Gonzalez, Jean-Claude Juncker, François Hollande, David Sassoli. But it would also name a great many political figures and intellectuals who have remained faithful to, and breathed new life into, his teaching. This leads us nicely into mentioning the Jacques Delors Institute, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year.
Flashback. In 1995, Delors decided not to stand for the Presidency of the French Republic. Early the next year, he left the European Commission. What would he do in Paris, after 10 years in Brussels? He would not go into politics or take the revolving door into the private sector. He would set up a body for collective reflection on European issues. Notre Europe came into being in Paris on 27 June 1996, assisted by such figures as Christine Verger, its first secretary general, and with an annual subsidy of 600,000 euros, decided upon (but not without a struggle) by the European Council (Mémoires, p. 563-564) and posted to the general budget of the EU.
The study and reflection group got off to a modest start. It would be chaired by Delors himself until 2004 and then, in chronological order, by his former head of cabinet, Pascal Lamy, then Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Antonio Vitorino and, since 2016, Enrico Letta. The initial mission statement has remained unchanged: to produce analyses and proposals to be put before political decision-makers and citizens, to feed into the European debates of the moment, to support the European vision of Jacques Delors. These documents are free of charge, available online and cover a vast spectrum of subjects.
Over recent years, the ‘suggestion box’ has grown to ever greater proportions. In 2012, Notre Europe became ‘Notre Europe – Institut Jacques Delors’, which naturally became shortened to IJD/JDI. One particular important event in its history was the creation of a sister organisation in Berlin, the Centre Jacques Delors, in 2014. Three years later saw the birth of Enrico Letta’s pet project, the Académie Notre Europe, offering education on European matters for young people from all countries of the EU (there were 28 of them during the academic year 2017-2018 and 103 in 2023-2024). These sessions consist of lessons at the Academy in Paris, but also events and debates in other key EU cities. Furthermore, two European Agoras have been held, in Budapest in 2019 and in Lisbon in 2024, bringing together young Europeans to discuss the major social issues. A third will be held this year in Barcelona.
In 2018, the Jacques Delors Energy Centre opened its doors as a research centre specialising in the energy transition. Then, in 2020, a Brussels branch, named Europe Jacques Delors, followed its Paris and Berlin counterparts. The three institutes employ a total of 15 full-time staff, plus many more on an ad hoc basis. The latest innovation is the Centre Grande Europe (November 2022), with research projects focusing on the future waves of EU enlargement and the EU’s relations with neighbours that are not accession candidates.
The IJD’s programme of work 2025 reflects matters that concern all of us: the security of Europe, its sovereignty, its openness to the world and its relations with the superpowers, competitiveness from the standpoint of the energy transition and economic governance, the budget and the forthcoming multi-annual financial framework, people’s qualifications, social dialogue, housing, tackling poverty, liberty and equality of democracy, adapting and evolving the institutions within an enlarged EU. The IJD’s writing team draw upon our daily bulletins as a vital source of information, as they have told me personally when I have visited.
During its development, furthermore, the Institute has been able to diversify its sources of income and its partnerships. It is also involved in longer-term research projects, in the framework of the Horizon Europe framework programme and in partnership with other, similar players.
Its real value lies in the multidisciplinary network of ‘little grey cells’ it has built over the years, with brilliance from various nationalities and a common mindset taking its inspiration from the values of Jacques Delors himself: the Community method, solidarity mechanisms, lifelong training, individual dignity. In this way, it recruits not solely on the basis of technical expertise, but also after verifying that the candidate’s ideals reflect the original project.
All of these things make this think tank so unique in a wide pool of many other talented and respected bodies, whose contributions we at Agence Europe are always delighted to report on. This editorial is therefore an opportunity a tribute to their intellectual efforts as well.
Renaud Denuit