Robert Marjolin (27 July 1911 – 15 April 1986) was a French economist and politician involved in the formation of the European Economic Community.

Early life and education

Robert Majolin was born in Paris, the son of an upholsterer. He left school at the age of 14 to begin work but took evening and correspondence courses at the

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. A 1931 scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled him to study

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and economics at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, which he completed in 1934. He also received a postgraduate doctorate in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

in 1936. From 1938 he worked as a chief assistant to

Charles Rist Charles Rist (1 January 1874, Prilly – 10 January 1955, Versailles) was a French economist. His son is Léonard Rist Léonard Rist (1905–1982) was a French economist and banker. He was the son of Charles Rist, the economist. Working in Ame ...

at the Institute of Economics in Paris. His research at this time as well as his later political work was strongly affected by the New Deal programs of American President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Marjolin was particularly concerned with production and price history as well as monetary policy.

World War II and De Gaulle administrations

After the June 1940 French surrender to Germany during the Second World War, Marjolin became an economic advisor to the De Gaulle Government-in-exile in Great Britain. Before the final phase of the war he had already sketched plans for the reconstruction of France and the rest of Europe. In 1943 he represented the Government-in-exile in

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as director of a purchasing mission. He rejected attempts by the American economy to win itself a prominent position in this mission. While in America he met the artist Dorothy Smith, who came from a Presbyterian family and would become his wife. After the war Marjolin became the first director of the foreign trade department in the French Ministry of Economic Affairs and then

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

for the reconstruction of France. In this role he initiated the economic development of France for the following decades. In contrast with Ludwig Erhard of Germany, Marjolin implemented a strong state control of the economy. This contrast defined the relationship between the French and German economic policies for the remainder of the 20th century.

The Marshall Plan and the OEEC

Due to his ministerial responsibilities, Marjolin was particularly involved with the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

for assistance to Europe. In August 1947 he published a memorandum which helped persuade the

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to support the plan. In 1948 Marjolin was appointed the first Secretary-General of the

Organisation for European Economic Co-operation The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

(OEEC) which was established to implement the Marshall Plan. Particularly in the last years of his involvement, he tried to divert the organization from its course as a purely technical authority for the administration of the European trade relations. He wanted it to become politically active, in order to achieve both an economic and also an increasing political integration of European countries. Towards the end of 1954 Marjolin surprisingly resigned from his OEEC position stating that he wished to become "an international civil servant". For a short time he was a member of the staff of the socialist minister of foreign affaires

Christian Pineau Christian Pineau (; 14 October 1904, in Chaumont-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne, France – 5 April 1995, in Paris) was a noted French Resistance fighter, who later served an important term as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956 through 1958. Life ...

and an economics professor at the

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Inaugural European Commission member

In 1955 he led the French delegation in negotiations on the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC). He attached particular importance to setting a common economic policy, a financial and monetary policy and as a result got the support of the German delegation leader

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as well as its deputy

Hans von der Groeben Hans von der Groeben (14 May 1907 – 6 March 2005) was a German diplomat, lawyer and journalist and member of the European Commission. Von der Groeben was born in Langheim (today Łankiejmy, Poland) near Rastenburg, East Prussia. A son ...

. In 1958 he was appointed one of the two French European Commissioners on the first

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, the

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 and ...

with responsibility for the economics and finance portfolios. In January 1962 he was re-appointed to the second Hallstein Commission. Marjolin unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the

French socialists French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

in the French parliamentary election, November 1962. A victory would have meant his leaving the commission but instead he served his full term which expired in January 1967. Robert Marjolin died in 1986, aged 74, leaving behind a son and a daughter.

References

External links