The Foundation is saddened to announce the death of Jacques-René Rabier on Friday 28th June 2019, a few weeks before his 100th birthday. Born in 1919 in Montmartre, he worked from 1946 alongside Jean Monnet , who hired him at the French General Plan Commission and appointed him director of his cabinet. Once settled in Luxembourg in 1953, he became spokesman for the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community, before taking up the post of Director General of the European Commission’s Press and Information Service. Subsequently, he was in particular the designer of the Eurobarometer, a tool that continues to be authoritative today. He was also Honorary Director General of the European Commission.
Jacques was one of the first members of the Council of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe, since its creation in 1978. He was also a member of its Executive Council for 30 years. We will keep bright memories of his European commitment and his commitment to the Foundation.
It will be recalled that a magnificent biography of Jacques, entitled «Jacques-René Rabier : Fonctionnaire-militant au service d’une… certaine idée de l’Europe» was published in 2017 by Michel Theys.
Excerpt from the filmed interview given in French by Jacques-René Rabier to the Foundation in 2010