Jean Rey (; 15 July 1902 – 19 May 1983) was a Belgian Liberal politician who served as the second

president of the European Commission The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the Head of government, head of the European Commission, the Executive (government), executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president ...

from 1967 to 1970. He served as

European Commissioner for External Relations The European Commissioner for External Relations was a member of the European Commission with responsibility over the Commissions external representation in the world and the European Union's (EU) Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The responsibility ...

from 1958 to 1967. The 1983–1984 academic year at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (; ; ) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of ...

was named in his honour.

Early life

Born in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

into a Protestant family, Jean Rey studied law at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

, where he obtained a PhD in 1926. He began his career as a barrister at the Court of Appeal in Liège. His commitment to the

Walloon Movement The Walloon Movement () is an umbrella term for all Belgium political movements that either assert the existence of a Walloon identity and of Wallonia and/or defend French culture and language within Belgium, either within the framework of the 1 ...

drew him into politics. He joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and was elected city councillor of Liège in 1935. In 1939, he won a seat in the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (; ; ) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament. Members and elections Article 62 o ...

. In the wake of World War II, he was one of the most vocal opponents of the "policy of independence" (neutrality) supported by successive Belgian governments and King Leopold III. He was mobilised as a reserve officer in 1940 and served during the

Battle of Belgium The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (; ), formed part of the larger Battle of France, an Military offensive, offensive campaign by Nazi Germany, Germany during ...

. He was captured by the Germans and spent the rest of the conflict as a prisoner of war, being interned in Oflag XD near Fischbeck, where he was a member of the clandestine

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

L'Obstinée.Jean Rey (1902–1983)

Career after World War II

After the war, he advocated for the federalisation of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. As early as 1947 he promoted, together with five other members of Parliament (among whom Julien Lahaut), a bill on the organisation of a federal state. If passed, the new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

would have transformed Belgium into a ''

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

'' consisting of two ''States'',

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

, and the federal region of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. However, a majority in the Belgian Parliament refused to take the proposal into consideration. Rey was Minister of Reconstruction from 1949 until 1950, and Minister of Economy from 1954 until 1958. As such, he was involved both in the early development of the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to integrate Europe's coal and steel industries into a single common market based on the principle of supranationalism which would be governe ...

and in the negotiations that led to the creation of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). Member of the commission (

Hallstein Commission The Hallstein Commission is the European Commission that held office from 7 January 1958 to 30 June 1967. Its president was Walter Hallstein and held two separate mandates. Work It was the first commission on the European Economic Community an ...

) of the CEE from 1958 until 1967, responsible for external relations, he played an important role in the negotiations of the Kennedy Round (1964–1967). In 1967, he succeeded Walter Hallstein as President of the European Commission (he was the first President of the Commission of the merged CSCE, CEE and EAEC). Still a convinced federalist, he undertook to reinforce the Community institutions. He won increased powers for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and advocated its election by universal suffrage. During his presidency, he oversaw the completion of the

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set u ...

(1968). He also played an important role in the Summit of The Hague in 1969, where the European leaders decided to relaunch European integration with two new initiatives: on the one hand,

Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union The economic and monetary union (EMU) of the European Union is a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union at three stages. There are three stages of the EMU, each of which consists of progressi ...

(EMU), and on the other hand, European Political Cooperation (EPC), which foreshadow the euro and the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union today. It was also at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

that France gave up its resistance against the accession of the United Kingdom to the EEC. Finally, in 1970, the last year of this mandate, Rey won the European governments' support for his proposal to give the Community "own resources". This meant that the EEC no longer depended exclusively on contributions by the member states, but could complete these with revenues from customs duties, and levies on agricultural products from outside the Community, in addition to a share of the VAT revenue. From 1964 until 1974, Rey was chairman of the board of the

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. He presided over the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History Initially the Euro ...

from 1974 to 1978 and was a member of the Jean Monnet Foundation for Europe. In 1979, he became a member of the first

elected by

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

. Jean Rey also remained active in Belgian politics. He became the ''éminence grise'' of the French-speaking liberals who broke away from the unitary

Party for Freedom and Progress The Party for Freedom and Progress (; ; ; PVV-PLP) was a liberalism, liberal political party in Belgium which existed from 1961 until 1992. The party was the successor of the Liberal Party (Belgium), Liberal Party, which had roots dating back to ...

to form the Parti Réformateur et Libéral Wallon (PRLW) in 1976. Jean Rey died in his native city Liège. In the European Quarter of

, there is now a square named after him. A street in the 15e arrondissement of Paris also bears his name.

References

Sources

Jean Rey
(EU)

(Strasbourg, 20 September 1967) , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rey, Jean 1902 births 1983 deaths Belgian European commissioners Ministers of state of Belgium Belgian Protestants Politicians from Liège Presidents of the European Commission University of Liège alumni Walloon movement activists Belgian prisoners of war in World War II Liberal Party (Belgium) politicians Belgian people of Swiss descent European commissioners (1967–1970)