Jean Monnet, the father of Europe

As top advisor of the French government, he was the main inspiration behind the famous "Schuman declaration" of 9 May 1950, which led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community and, as such, is considered to be the birth of the European Union. Between 1952-55 he was the first president of its executive body. It would, however, be unjust to limit Monnet's influence to the economic sphere. His famous and much-quoted phrase was "We unite people, not states". Today's EU programmes for cultural and educational exchange follow in this tradition. Jean Monnet's life and work through archives and interviews of himself.Produced on the occasion of the Jean Monnet Year.

Files available for download:

To download, please log in