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Jacques Delors’ presidency of the European Commission (1985–1994) is a major example of transformative leadership at a moment of significant innovation in a transnational institution. Leadership by the president involves both leading the supranational Commission, and exercising leadership in the intergovernmental setting of the European Council, which takes key decisions about major innovations for the European Union. This analysis uses a typology developed by Oran Young to analyse Delors’ successes and failures both in mobilizing the Commission for the major projects of the decade and in promoting them in the intergovernmental context of the Council. After reviewing his early career in French politics and the resources it provided, the article analyses Delors’ successes, beginning with the 1985 Single Market program, an exercise that presented innovative win–win proposals to member states that unleashed energy that could be invested in new projects. As Franco-German preferences diverged over monetary union and member states grew wary of his ‘Russian Dolls’ strategy, Delors’ capacity for transformative leadership dwindled. Following the 1992 Maastricht treaty, as the EU turned toward issue areas central to national power and identity, member states began retreating towards intergovernmentalism. The decline of Delors’ leadership became clear when member states refused to support his 1993 White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness, and Employment.
