His thoughts
Devoted to public service, Jean Monnet pursued the same ideal throughout his life: ‘a union among people’.
His philosophy was to bring people together around a common goal. This simple idea guided his actions during the two global conflicts and later in launching and pursuing the construction of the European Community.
Jean Monnet was a tireless man of action Pragmatic and determined as he was, he also understood the importance of words. Every letter, every document had to be supremely effective; he could draft and redraft dozens of times until he achieved the necessary conciseness and clarity.
As the inspiration behind the European Community project, Monnet was very careful in choosing to work with people who could help to develop and deliver his vision. The ‘Monnet method’ was therefore mainly about getting people together around a table to encourage dialogue and work together to identify solutions to shared problems.