Monnet, Jean (1888 - 1979)

: Jean Monnet (Photo: European Commission)

French architect and draftsman of the Schuman Plan, which led to the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and ultimately to the current European Union. Monnet became the first President of the ECSC.

The “Monnet method” or the “community method" are terms which are both used to mean supra-national decision-making on the basis of laws proposed by the EU Commission instead of intergovernmentalism, with each state retaining its sovereignty.

Biography

A cognac dealer and leading civil servant in the League of Nations before the Second World War.
In 1955 he established the “Action Committee for the United States of Europe” calling for further supra-national integration.
His ultimate aim was always the same: a European federal co-operation, as described in his “Mémoires” of 1976.
Monnet hoped to unite Europe’s peoples, not only its states.

Notes

The EU Parliament has bought Monnet’s house and turned it into a museum.

Links

http://www.jean-monnet.net

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