Houjarray Foresight Talks at the Maison Jean Monnet 2023-2025
1.The Houjarray Foresight Talks are a yearly event, only open on invitation, in the ‘Maison Jean Monnet’ where the Schuman Declaration, starting point of what is today the European Union, has been drafted and discussed between Jean Monnet , Robert Schuman and one or two of their respective staff members. The house and especially its diner table and living room hosted an impressive list of top decision makers (including American Presidents and other Heads of State and PM’s) during Monnet’s life time but also afterwards on invitation of EP Presidents.
2. The event is organized by the Association Jean Monnet (AJM) which was founded shortly after the death in 1979 of this founding father and first honorary citizen of the European Union by former members of his staff, friends and family. Several of these friends and staff members were themselves also political figures of major importance for Europe and for their respective countries in different parts of the world. The AJM has its official seat in the Maison Jean Monnet (MJM), since 1982 a property of the European Parliament. It managed the House until 2018.
3. The Maison Jean Monnet was the personal residence of Jean Monnet and his family. It is situated in the hamlet of Houjarray in Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, a commune in the Département des Yvelines, near Rambouillet and Versailles in France. The historical house and its park are open to visitors all the year through and the House can be visited by individual visitors with audio guides or in groups with professional guides.
4. Beside the historical house there are 2 conference halls, one big for 120 and one small for 40 people, and a guest house with 32 rooms and a restaurant reserved for participants in the Monnet Academy and in other high level events organised in cooperation with the EP.
5. One of these events are the Houjarray Foresight Talks. The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 60, whereby attention is paid to gender equality and age, geographical diversity and a sound mix of expertise in different fields. Participants are European officials from different main institutions, MEP’s, diplomats, scholars related to influential think tanks from several countries, business people and industrialists, trade unionists, journalists and artists with an affinity for the items to be discussed. The majority of the guests (33) are staying in the guest house, for the other guests we reserve rooms in hotels in the neighborhood (Montfort- l'Amaury and Plaisir) while for those coming from Paris a shuttle service is provided.
6. The main attention goes to the conversations in 3 to 4 working groups (WG’s) with a maximum of 15 participants /group. No introductory speakers in the WG’s but a moderator and a questionnaire or a specific memo guide the discussions, all participants are requested to intervene. The only moment speeches are foreseen is at the inaugural session in the MJM on Saturday morning. They are to give the general frame and the linkages with the discussions afterwards in the WG’s. In previous editions we were happy to count on interventions by experts of the EPC and CEPS think tanks, of the EP, the Malines Conversation Group and the Prospectivists. This inaugural session is the only semi open event as it is in hybrid format giving the possibility to AJM members to follow it online.
7. All discussions are held in respect of the ‘Chatham House Rules’ which allows participants to share information they receive but not to reveal the identity of the speaker or any other participant. This is very strict for the Friday Program in Paris which brought us this in 2025 to the Palais de la Muette, seat of the OECD, and again to the Palais d’Orsay, part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France. In both places we engaged in -depth talks with high level officials and ambassadors within the frame given by the theme of the Houjarray Talks.
8. In 2023 we brainstormed on foresight anno 2023, in 2024 on the place of the EU and Europe in the world and in 2025 the overall theme was ‘Innovation, Power and Diplomacy’. Power and Diplomacy is the title of a book by Dean Acheson who was a secretary of State to USA President Harry Truman and a friend of Jean Monnet. Especially another book of his, ‘Present at the Creation’ is a source of inspiration as it gives a unique insight in the motivations and discussions within the Roosevelt and Truman administration that lead to the creation of the main post WWII international institutions such as the UN, the World Bank and the IMF, the OECD, and NATO to name only these. Innovation is also a logic key word as it is central in most political discussions this year and the EC’s competitiveness compass inspired by the trilogy of reports Letta-Draghi and Niinisto.
9. Content partners were during these editions respectively the EPC, the CEPS, AFAR, and the Centre de Formation Européen (CIFE) , based in Nice and Berlin.
10. The WG’s conclusions provided the basis for a Houjarray Declaration both in 2024 and 2025 and these declarations were transmitted afterwards to European leaders. They also influenced the discussions in the Third Action Committee for the United States of Europe.
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