Baron Jacques Groothaert (1922–2009) was a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 diplomat and entrepreneur. He was honorary chairman of the company SA Belge de Constructions Aeronautiques (SABCA), former Ambassador for Belgium to Mexico and China, and chairman of the Generale de Banque. He was a member of the Coudenberg group

Coudenberg group

The Coudenberg group was a Belgian federalist think-tank, it was named after the place where the members met, the Coudenberg, one of the seven hillocks on which the centre of Brussels has been built...

, a Belgian federalist think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

. In 1984 he founded, together with Lucien Le Lièvre, the American European Community Association (AECA) in Belgium.