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Jacques Delors: EU in State of ‘Latent Crisis’

January 19, 2004

In an interview, former European Commission President Jacques Delors said that the EU is now in "a state of latent crisis" due to weak leadership and that he understands why Britain has refused to join the euro.

https://p.dw.com/p/4aOZ

In an interview with the Times of London, the former President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, said that the EU is now in "a state of latent crisis" due to weak leadership. "The men who took Europe forward had three qualities: vision, heart and a strategic realism. Today these are in short supply," he said. The 78 year-old Frenchman also took swipes at fellow countryman Jacques Chirac, criticizing him for attacks on Poland and other future EU member states. In another bold statement, Delors, who is recognized as one of the main architects of the euro, said that he could understand Britain's decision to stay out of the single currency. "Since we have not succeeded in maximizing the economic advantages of the euro, one can understand the British ... saying: 'Things are just fine as they are. Staying out of the euro hasn't stopped us prospering'," he said. (EUobserver.com)