Tribute to Paul Collowald
News
18 July 2025
Paul Collowald, a former director of the association, died on 8 July, aged 102, in the suburbs of Brussels.
Paul was in the tradition of the great Europeans.I have had the pleasure of meeting him on many occasions at the board meetings of the Association Jean Monnet and when he was decorated in Strasbourg.He intervened sparingly, but always wisely.His advice and opinions were invaluable.He naturally applied the Monnet method:
- Serving the European cause, not your own
- Ideas and action plans
He was precise, rigorous, serious and hard-working, but always with a good sense of humour.He had a very successful career, not forgetting his commitment to the Resistance.He couldn't stand the rough-and-tumble and false information in the media. He
regularly wrote to newspapers or individuals to correct their point of view.When I was re-elected president of the association, he sent me a message by e-mail to congratulate me.We will miss his open-mindedness, intelligence and tolerance, qualities that are so rare today.
Philippe Laurette,
This true pioneer of European integration gave me a warm welcome in 1979 when I took up my post as a very young permanent delegate in Brussels for the CNPF, which later became the MEDEF, and throughout my European career he gave me constant support, peppered with a hundred anecdotes and pieces of advice, the extreme quality and constant relevance of which I greatly appreciated, as well as his warm, friendly approach.
An exceptional man, an exceptional life, even into his hundredth year, when he retained all of his great gentlemanly style, his political wealth drawn from the best sources and his uncommon human qualities. He will remain an example to us all, an example that obliges us... Thank you Paul!!!
Bruno Vever
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