The principle of subsidiarity introduced in the EU Delors Commission project

Abstract

Jacques Delors’ presidency in the European Commission between 1985 and 1995 marked a profound and lasting impetus in the drafting of the European community project. The principle of subsidiarity played a key role in the Delors Commission. This paper presents the initial concept of subsidiarity introduced by Jacques Delors. As a hypothesis, we propose the following: that it was the recognition and acceptance of the principle of subsidiarity in European Economic Community countries in the nineties that opened the door to the relaunching of the European project, which had been blocked for more than a decade. The text describes the process behind the inclusion of the principle of subsidiarity in the European Single Act and discusses how it extended to other EU policies beginning with those pertaining to the environment. Finally it describes the inclusion of the subsidiarity principle in the European Union Treaty from a political and legal standpoint.