Jacques Delors quotes

For me, socialism has always been about liberty and solidarity, but also about responsibility. (Jacques Delors)
Fundamentally, American society is composed of individuals who don't go out of their way to do each other favours. View quote
Jacques Delors
If we do not succeed with political union...then the historic decline of Europe which began with the First World War will resume. View quote
Jacques Delors
The Americans should stop insulting us, I'm not going to be an accomplice to the depopulation of the land. It's not up to the Americans to tell us how to organise our farm policy and the balance of our society. Their attitude is to treat the EC as if it had the plague and then encourage the rest of the world to join in. View quote
Jacques Delors
My objective is that before the end of the millennium Europe should have a true federation. The Commission should become a political executive which can define essential common interests...responsible before the European Parliament and before the nation-states represented how you will, by the European Council or by a second chamber of national parliaments. View quote
Jacques Delors
Politicians who attack the dream of a federal Europe are racist bigots intent on undermining the Continent's freedom and peace. View quote
Jacques Delors
This weakening is worsened by the widening distance between the governed and their governments. View quote
Jacques Delors
The European model is, first, a social and economic system founded on the role of the market, for no computer in the world can process information better than the market. View quote
Jacques Delors
This desire for equity must not lead to an excess of welfare, where nobody is responsible for anything. View quote
Jacques Delors
I would not be opposed to devising a new system of pensions, in which one part was based on collective provision, but which also gave incentives for people to take out an additional, personal plan. View quote
Jacques Delors
Europe is a commercial giant and an economic power of the first rank, but it is a political dwarf. Political cooperation in the Community will grow. The question is whether the supply services will follow. (Jacques Delors)
I have a passion for reform, for the progress of man and society. I cannot stand the feeling of being useless. View quote
Jacques Delors
What is perceived as a cost by some will turn out to be the competitive advantage of Europe by helping maintain a well-trained, secure workforce, open to change. View quote
Jacques Delors
We must define the political Europe that we want. We must plead for the federal approach. View quote
Jacques Delors
The social and human balance of our societies depend on the farming world. View quote
Jacques Delors
Socialism was not the socialization of losses and the privatization of profits. View quote
Jacques Delors
It is impossible to build Europe on only deregulation...1992 is much more than the creation of an internal market abolishing barriers to the free movement of goods services and investment...The internal market should be desgined to benefit each and every citizen of the Community. It is therefore necessary to improve workers' living and working conditions, and to provide better protection for their health and safety at work...Europe needs you. View quote
Jacques Delors
Federalism is a guideline, not a pornographic word, you can speak it out loud...We have been focusing too much on a country that has said no, no, no! View quote
Jacques Delors
The European model is in danger if we obliterate the principle of personal responsibility. View quote
Jacques Delors
I cannot resign myself to the decline of Europe, and of France. View quote
Jacques Delors
The problem of how we finance the welfare state should not obscure a separate issue: if each person thinks he has an inalienable right to welfare, no matter what happens to the world, that's not equity, it's just creating a society where you can't ask anything of people. (Jacques Delors)
My problem is how to find the best way of being useful. View quote
Jacques Delors
The driving force behind the liberal counter-offensive in Europe has been a reaction against irresponsibility. View quote
Jacques Delors
Yes, the European model remains superior to that of America and Japan. View quote
Jacques Delors
The problem with a purely collective system is not only that it requires economic growth, and the right sort of demographic trends, but that it prevents people thinking about their futures in a responsible way. View quote
Jacques Delors