On 16 June 1987, the arrangement between the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the Commission of the European Communities, intended to strengthen cooperation between the two organisations, takes the form of an exchange of letters. This is the letter from Marcelino Oreja, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, to Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities.

On 12 June 1985, at the ceremony held in Lisbon to mark the signing of Portugal’s Treaty of Accession to the European Communities, Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission, gives an address in which he draws attention to the historic significance of the accession of a free and democratic Portugal to the European Communities.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, discusses his experience during the war and the reasons for his involvement before and after the conflict in movements such as Jeunesse étudiante chrétienne (Young Christian Students — JEC), and especially Jeunesse ouvrière chrétienne (Young Christian Workers — JOC). He emphasises the importance for his future political experience of his activities from the 1950s onwards in the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC), and describes his brief spell in the Popular Republican Movement (MRP) in the early 1950s. He also looks back on the appeal made by Robert Schuman.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995 and Head of Social Affairs at the French National Planning Board from 1962 to 1969, discusses the formative aspects of his years at the Planning Board, for himself and for other figures that would later hold European offices.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995 and Adviser for Social Affairs then special assistant to Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas from 1971 to 1972, recalls the originality of Chaban-Delmas' ‘New Society' (Nouvelle société) project within French political circles at the time, and describes the events of May 1968 and the subsequent role of Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995 and Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981, comments on the contribution of the Party of European Socialists (ESP) and the European People's Party (EPP), as well as the contributions of the various national parties, to the building of a united Europe.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, discusses the role that should be played by the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy established by the reforms introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, and speaks about the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS).

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, explains that a Commission composed of the same number of members as there are Member States, as laid down by the Lisbon Treaty, does not currently pose any problems. He goes on to emphasise that he is strongly in favour of the role of the European Commission, particularly of its right to propose legislation.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, describes the origins and activities of the think tank ‘Notre Europe', which he founded and directed until 2004.

In this interview excerpt, Jacques Delors, President of the Commission of the European Communities from 1985 to 1995, defines the concept of a ‘federation of nation states', which he put forward in 1993, and outlines the origins and importance of the Community method.