Word: monnet
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Late in life, Jean Monnet, a Cognac salesman who went on to become the architect of the Common Market, mused about his dream for a United States of Europe. He thought back to his birthplace in this brandy-making town of Southwest France, where the grapes ripen slowly in the September sun, then mellow for decades in oaken barrels beneath the limestone distilleries. "The great thing about making cognac," he said, "is that it teaches you above all to wait. Man proposes, but time and God and the seasons have to be on your side...
Four decades have passed since Monnet's bold proposal of a more perfect union began to take form. But last week the citizens of Cognac, and of towns and cities across the European Community, signaled that they want to wait even longer -- perhaps forever -- before joining a federalist monetary and political structure...
...Jacqueline Autef, whose tobacco shop is around the corner from Monnet's old house, such promises ring hollow. Once the most powerful nation in Europe, France may worry about its eclipse by Japan, the U.S. or Germany. Autef, 53, feels insecure on a more basic level. "I voted for Mitterrand in 1981 because he promised to reduce unemployment," said the tobacconist, who supports an ; invalid husband. "But today 3 million French are out of work. My neighbor committed suicide when he lost his job. Families are shattering." Whether stung by France's 10% jobless rate, by recession in Britain...
Still, Maastricht marked a major milestone in the European Community's quest for greater integration. Although the word federal does not appear in the treaty -- once again, at British insistence -- the text does call for "an ever closer union." Three decades ago, Jean Monnet, the E.C.'s founding father, championed the notion that tighter economic ties would produce closer political cooperation. In Maastricht that dream was endorsed with renewed enthusiasm by the leaders of the new Europe...
...selected 1992 as the target date for eliminating trade barriers among the Community's twelve members. And it was Delors, 64, who conducted a nonstop p.r. campaign on behalf of the plan. His efforts have earned him the nickname "Mr. Europe" and comparisons to the late Jean Monnet, his fellow Frenchman and the architect of the postwar European movement...