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Jean Monnet
Historical figureFrance1888-1979

Jean Monnet

First President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (1952-1955) · Head of the French Planning Commission

French planner and diplomat often called a father of European integration. He drafted the 1950 coal and steel pooling that grew into the European Union and built supranational institutions.

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Profile on 12 axes6 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Jean Monnet, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-15
    PublicPrivate

    He led state economic planning in France but did not push public ownership as such. Slightly public.

  2. 02Markets-30
    PlannedFree

    His postwar Plan steered French reconstruction while his Community pooled markets in coal and steel across borders. Moderately planned.

  3. 03WelfareNo clear record
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority+10
    DemocraticStrong leader

    He worked through appointed bodies and expert planning rather than mass politics, and the High Authority was a supranational executive body. Slightly toward strong leadership.

  5. 05SecurityNo clear record
    LibertyOrder
  6. 06Structure+35
    LocalCentral

    He favored supranational authority above national governments, a form of centralization at the European level. This was a move away from local sovereignty.

  7. 07MoralityNo clear record
    ProgressiveTraditional
  8. 08ReligionNo clear record
    SecularReligious
  9. 09TechnologyNo clear record
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10CultureNo clear record
    MulticulturalNational identity
  11. 11Trade-70
    GlobalProtected

    Pooling German-French coal and steel and the later Common Market treaties pushed toward open, integrated trade.

  12. 12Foreign policy-85
    CooperationStrength

6 axes have no clear record, so matching leaves them out.

Who was Jean Monnet?

Jean Monnet was born in 1888 in Cognac to a brandy family and sold its products abroad before becoming a civil servant. He coordinated allied shipping in the First World War, was deputy secretary-general of the League of Nations until 1923 and worked in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s on war production. After 1945 he led France's Planning Commission. In 1950 he proposed to Robert Schuman a pooled French-German coal and steel authority, and he became first president of its High Authority in 1952. From 1955 he led the Action Committee for the United States of Europe until it dissolved. He died in 1979.

Political views

  • Proposed in 1914 better coordination of war supplies among the Allies, and later became deputy secretary-general of the League of Nations.Source: european-union.europa.eu
  • Suggested in 1940 a Franco-British merger with shared citizenship, which Churchill accepted but the French government rejected.Source: ebsco.com
  • Became the first director of France's postwar planning commission in 1947 and led the plan for economic recovery.Source: ebsco.com
  • Instigated and prepared the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950, which proposed putting German-French coal and steel production under one high authority.Source: european-union.europa.eu
  • Served as first president of the High Authority, the Coal and Steel Community's executive body and a precursor of the European Commission, from 1952 to 1955.Source: research.ncl.ac.uk
  • Proposed an integrated European Defense Community army, which the French government rejected in 1954.Source: ebsco.com
  • Founded and led the Action Committee for the United States of Europe from 1955 until its dissolution twenty years later.Source: ebsco.com

Legacy

Admirers see Monnet as the quiet architect who turned a plan to bind France and Germany's war industries into the European Community, and a wartime organizer who pressed American leaders to shift to arms production. The EU honors him as a pioneer. Critics question whether building supranational economic institutions while leaving national governments intact can produce true European unity, and one biographer called him unrealistic and egotistical. The French rejection of his proposed European Defense Community in 1954 showed the limits of his method.

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Jean Monnet: questions

Why is Jean Monnet called a father of Europe?

He instigated and prepared the 1950 Schuman Declaration, which proposed pooling German-French coal and steel under one high authority. That led to the European Coal and Steel Community, which began the integration project.

What did Monnet do for France after 1945?

He became the first director of France's postwar planning commission in 1947, which planned the country's economic recovery.

Was Jean Monnet elected to office?

He was an economic adviser and civil servant who led appointed bodies such as the Planning Commission and the High Authority, not an elected politician.

Sources