Macron leads tribute to Jacques Delors, architect of European integration

France's Emmanuel Macron stands by the coffin of Jacques Delors as the European anthem Ode to Joy is performed by the Republican Guard in the main courtyard of Les Invalides, on January 5, 2023. AP - Stephanie Lecocq

French President Emmanuel Macron thanked the late Jacques Delors for giving EU integration some of its greatest leaps forward at a state funeral on Friday for the former head of the European Commission.

"Jacques Delors has driven our continent forward like few others have," Macron said in his eulogy, describing the former French finance minister as an astute negotiator who constantly sought to build bridges and strike compromises to push the bloc forward.

Delors served as president of the EU executive for three terms – a period longer than any other holder of that office – from January 1985 until the end of 1994.

He had "reconciled Europe with its future", Macron added

The statesman, who died aged 98 on 27 December 27, was Brussels' driving force during the EU's greatest period of integration, the creation of the single market and the euro.

The ceremony at Les Invalides in Paris was attended by current and former European leaders including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a frequent EU critic.

Today, the European flags in front of our headquarters in Brussels are at half-mast.

We pay tribute to our former President Jacques Delors, on the occasion of the National Tribute Ceremony in Paris. pic.twitter.com/JTsTHtXrcU

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) January 5, 2024

He and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde all stood as Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", the EU's anthem, was played.

Delors' death comes six months before the EU holds European parliament elections during which eurosceptics are expected to make record gains.

Delors was finance minister under late French president Francois Mitterand.

In 1984, Mitterrand wanted to make Delors prime minister, but he offended the president by asking to keep his finance portfolio alongside the top job, and was sidelined.

Delors' passion for education prompted him to found the Erasmus programme of university exchanges, which has supported around 14 million students through different schemes.

Some 100 Erasmus students were invited to the ceremony.

(with newswires)