Monnet, Jean (zhäN` mônā`), 1888–1979, French economist and public official, proponent of European unity. In World War I, Monnet served on the Inter-Allied Maritime Commission, an international committee designed to secure war materials, foodstuffs, and shipping facilities for the Allies. He was later (1919–23) deputy general of the League of Nations. During World War II, as a member of the Washington-based British Supply Council (1940–43), he was instrumental in coordinating the Allied war effort. In 1945, Monnet was appointed to draft a plan for French economic revival; the Monnet Plan (1947) called for the modernization of French industry and agriculture with government help and supervision, and provided for a 48-hr work week to achieve economic goals. The resultant redevelopment encouraged French participation in the Marshall Plan and also in the Schuman Plan, drafted by Monnet himself. The Schuman Plan established the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), of which Monnet was first president (1952–55); he conceived the ECSC as the initial step toward European economic and political integration (see European Union European Community (EC), an economic and political confederation of European nations, and other organizations (with the same member nations) that are responsible for a common foreign and security policy and for cooperation on justice and home affairs.
..... Click the link for more information. ). In 1955, Monnet organized the Action Committee for a United States of Europe, and became its first chairman a year later. The group supported establishment of the Common Market (the European Economic Community European Economic Community (EEC), organization established (1958) by a treaty signed in 1957 by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany (now Germany); it was known informally as the Common Market.
..... Click the link for more information. ), which developed from many of Monnet's ideas.

Bibliography

See M. and S. Bromberger, Jean Monnet and the United States of Europe (tr. 1969); F. Duchêne, Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence (1994).

Monnet, Jean

(born Nov. 9, 1888, Cognac, France—died March 16, 1979, Houjarray) French economist and diplomat. He managed his family's brandy business before becoming a partner of an investment bank (1925). In World War II he chaired a Franco-British economic committee and proposed a Franco-British union. In 1947 he created and directed the successful Monnet Plan to rebuild and modernize France's economy. In 1950, with Robert Schuman, he proposed the plan for the European Coal and Steel Community, predecessor of the European Economic Community and the European Union, and served as its first president (1952–55). He was also the founder and president of the action committee for the United States of Europe (1955–75).