Jacques Delors, who headed the European Commission between 1985 and 1995 and is seen as one of the most important architects of a European internal market and single currency, died on Wednesday, aged 98ç Paralel.Az reports citing POLITICO.

A pivotal figure in reanimating the pursuit of a united Europe after World War II, Delors is best known for presiding over the Single European Act of 1987, which set Europe on a course toward borderless economic integration, and the Maastricht Treaty of 1993 that created the European Union and set a path for countries to join the euro currency.

Born in Paris in 1925, Delors worked at the Banque de France until 1962. A committed Christian and active in the trade union confederation, he entered politics as a member of the Socialist Party in 1974 and was appointed as finance minister by President François Mitterrand in 1981. Faced with a recession, he started off by delivering the traditional medicine of increased spending, but ultimately convinced Mitterrand to switch tack to greater alignment with market economics.