European integration is an epiphenomenon of a larger process of change that grew out of the founder generation's deep and abiding commitment to surmount the horrors of the first half of the twentieth century and restore conditions akin to those that existed during the liberal age that spanned the middle decades of the prior, happier century. Liberalization, the term used to describe the means developed to reach this end, required the creation of new institutions to restore the market economy and the operation of the market mechanism itself. The specific mixture of the two required for optimal results has varied over time but remains subject to honest and perhaps irresolvable disagreement. After World War II, the creation of a viable framework for international trade and finance was the first order of the day. Yet once the economic reconstruction process had been completed and the promotion of growth became the overall aim of policy, the market mechanism could gradually take over. “Embedded” controls and restraints could be lifted and a purer form of liberalism allowed to develop.

Viewed in light of the liberalization process, the history of European integration does not resemble the familiar story told disciples faithful to the memory of Jean Monnet. To mention this fact is to state a scholarly commonplace. However, finding a substitute for the usual scenario has never been easy. It is impossible, first of all, to dispense with the figure of Monnet. His achievements of even a secondary order are immense.