Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

P rince of A sturias A wards 1981-2014. S peeches 5 Firstly, as President of the Commission of the European Communities, Mr Delors has devoted his energy in collaboration with the Member States to the building of a solid and dynamic European Community in fulfilment of an idea which has found a strong place in the minds and hearts of millions of fellow European citizens in recent years. The building of Europe has not been easy and has only been made possible by the cooperation of many states and interests. It is also the case that, contrary to the views of some pessimists, the enlargement of the European Community, most recently through the addition of Spain and Portugal, has markedly increased the dynamism of our Community and enlarged its horizons via the influx of new ideas and historical links. We live in a European Community, which has clearly regained its vigour and increased its internal cohesion on both the economic and social level. Secondly, as the world’s major trading power and heir to remarkable intellectual and cultural diversity, this Community inevitably has a growing major role to play in the world. Under Mr Delors’ leadership as President of the Commission, we have given high priority to the development of links with our partners around the globe, not only in view of trade and aid, but also because of the rich legacy of human values for which we stand. Jacques Delors was President of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995. — Extract from the speech given on the occasion of receiving the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on 21/10/1989. David Williamson, on behalf of Jacques Delors — Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation 1989