Two Titans of the EU have died. Jacques Delors, who led the EU Commission from 1985 to 1995, promoted an unashamedly federalist, centralising agenda and presided over the Single European Act in 1987; and the Maastricht Treaty. From 1985 to 1995, he was the high priest of “ever closer union” – including the adoption of the single market and the creation of the euro. ‘The EU is so much his creation that one of Delors’s biographers called it “the house that Jacques built”.’
Along the way he fought vigorously with Margaret Thatcher and his policies arguably did a great deal to bring about her downfall.
The other is Wolfgang Schauble, the German statesman, an indispensable assistant to Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, who charted the German response to the collapse of eastern European communism in 1989, designed road maps for closer EU integration in the 1990s and crafted emergency measures to save Europe’s monetary union after 2010.
Jacques Delors 20 July 1925 12.30pm Paris, France, had a Cancer New Moon in his career 10th alongside a ‘leadership’ North Node in Leo and Mars also in Leo. Plus a visionary, idealistic Venus, Neptune, Mercury in Leo in his 11th. His pushily-confident Jupiter opposition Pluto clashed badly with Maggie’s similarly forceful Jupiter opposition Pluto and it also squared her Sun Mars. Their relationship chart had a competitive composite Sun Mars conjunction, a oneupmanhship-struggling Jupiter opposition Pluto and an outspoken Mercury opposition Uranus.
Delors’ leaving-a-legacy-for-history 17th harmonic is exceptionally strong with a pulling-together-opposites Saturn opposition Uranus square a successful Sun Jupiter; as well as a do-or-die determined Mars opposition Pluto square Venus. His vision was railroaded through against bitter hostility.
Wolfgang Schauble 18 September 1942 11.45 am Freiburg im Breisgau, was a softer temperament with an intuitive Sun Neptune conjunction in Virgo conjunct Mars in Libra; a good-for-PR Venus in his 10th; and a financially astute and inventive Saturn in his 8th conjunct Uranus.
His 17th harmonic was also strong, hooking him into the zeitgeist, the spirit of his time.
Delors chart is quite a powerhouse. And with that Mercury-Venus-Neptune conjunction he must have been a smooth talker. And the Sun-Moon-Pluto in Cancer would have a way of swinging things its way. Yet I think the Neptune may well have been doing what it believed was for the good of everyone rather than his ego. Noting also the inconjunct from Pisces Uranus which probably was looking to up end things but still able to align with all the Leo Neptune conjunction.
The Saturn in Scorpio is the grit in his chart. Without that, I suspect he would have coasted through life.
Thanks Marjorie, titans indeed! You prompted me to look at the chart for Maastricht, 1 November 1993. What an intense chart that is, with its Scorpio Sun on Delors’ Saturn, and the Libran Venus square Uranus and Neptune conjunction in Capricorn just passed Delors’ natal Jupiter. Legal and financial ideals?
As for Maastricht’s fixed t-square…..all of that had been transiting his Leo stellium beforehand and maybe describes his experience of the battle to get the whole thing agreed. The stability-loving Moon in Taurus opposing Pluto/Mars in Scorpio, squaring Saturn in Aquarius is somewhat bleak and formidable. And here comes transiting Jupiter, and Uranus to shake it all up again in the spring.