KEY POINTS:
Francois-Xavier Ortoli, who has died aged 82, was president of the European Commission from 1973-1976. He served a further eight years as vice-president for economic and financial affairs before becoming a successful chairman of Total Oil.
An at times short-tempered Corsican, Ortoli was typical of France's ruling elite, moving effortlessly from the backroom to the Gaullist Cabinet table - he was briefly education minister in 1968 - to Brussels to the boardroom.
His greatest humiliation was when, having put together a common European position during the energy crisis of 1973-74, he saw it torpedoed by his former colleagues in Paris.
While he criticised member states for their lack of vision, he stated that his main achievement had been to keep the Community together, something that had never been in doubt.
