Jean Monnet

Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (November 9, 1888 – March 16, 1979) is regarded by many as the architect of European Unity. Never elected to public office, Monnet worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist.

Common Market

In 1955, Monnet founded the Action Committee for the United States of Europe in order to revive European construction following the failure of the European Defense Community (EDC).

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It brought political parties and European trade unions together to become a driving force behind the initiatives which laid the foundation for the European Union as it eventually emerged: first the European Economic Community (EEC) (1958) (known commonly as the "Common Market"), which was established by the Treaty of Rome of 1957; later the European Community (1967) with its corresponding bodies, the European Commission and the European Council of Ministers, British membership in the Community (1973), the European Council (1974), the European Monetary System (1979), and the European Parliament (1979). This process reflected Monnet's belief in a gradualist approach for constructing European unity.

Related Topics:
European Union - Treaty of Rome - European Commission - European Monetary System - European Parliament

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After retiring to his home in Houjarray, Monnet wrote his memoirs.

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He died in 1979 at the age of ninety. His ashes were interred in the Panthéon of Paris.

Related Topics:
Panthéon - Paris

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