Jacques Chirac, the former French president who championed Europe, and whose later years were blighted by corruption scandals, has died aged 86.

“President Jacques Chirac died this morning surrounded by his family, peacefully,” his son-in-law told the French news agency AFP.

Chirac served two terms as president, one as prime minister, and took France into the single European currency.

The French National Assembly observed a minute’s silence in his memory.