We are here in the middle of the Massachusetts winter. Winter sports seem to unite many of us, here in Boston and in Finland. We have even a same asset in ice hockey, the goalkeeper Tuukka Rask, of the Boston Bruins and of the national team of Finland. Winter and skiing meant a lot for Jean Monnet, too.
Monnet wrote his great proposal of the European Coal and Steel Union during a two-week cross country skiing holiday on the Alps in the winter of 1950. He made his skiing trip alone, with only a guide helping him to find his way. European integration can only be understood against its historical background and especially the two world wars.