Tribune
| 08/03/2007
The world changes. Neither France nor any other country of the EU is in the same situation as 50 years ago when the "founding fathers" started the European project.
In 1996, not long after finishing his presidency of the European Commission, Jacques Delors established Notre Europe, an independent think tank committed to European unity. This year's tenth anniversary of Notre Europe is an occasion to sketch a portrait of ten years of building Europe, through the prism of Jacques Delors' declarations and thoughts.
In his frank style and with his unique mix of profound insight and simplicity, Delors singles out the really important questions - those which today's political leaders are increasingly failing to answer. As the European Union goes through one of the most serious crises of its history, he repeats his question tirelessly: What do we really want to achieve together? Are we really giving ourselves the means to fulfil our ambitions?
For Jacques Delors, "la Grande Europe" must set itself objectives which are both ambitious and realistic, and it must strive to be an exemplary model of integration for the globalised world of the 21st century. In this new chapter in a life of campaigning, the former Commission president shows himself to be neither nostalgic nor bitter, and demonstrates that he has lost none of his lucidity nor his force of character.
L'Europe tragique et magnifique: Les grands enjeux européens par Jacques Delors. Parution fevrier 2007, Editions Fondation Saint-Simon, 12 ‚¬. ISBN 2-915134-29-4
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