Building Europe today

2024 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Luigi Einaudi, one of the fathers of the Italian Republic. A figure of rare moral and intellectual coherence, a rigorous economist, a liberal thinker, and a staunch Europeanist, Einaudi understood the challenges and opportunities of a new era. His reflections on European federalism, civil and economic liberties, social constraints, and the responsibilities of the state are extraordinarily timely today, in an international context beset by new systemic crises. Rediscovering Einaudi's legacy means questioning the path of the European Union and the democratic quality of our institutions. It means returning to ask ourselves what kind of Europe we want to build today.

He was a great supporter of European unity, starting with his article in La Stampa of August 20, 1897, on The United States of Europe. His thinking developed in a period when Europe was torn apart by two world wars, but was beginning to dream of peace. For Einaudi, Europe should not be merely an economic construct, but a community of free peoples, united by shared principles, forged "by brotherly love and humanistic ideals."

"Only federal union can prevent war and make freedom fruitful," Einaudi wrote in 1944. And in 1947, at the Constituent Assembly, he stated that "we will be able to save ourselves from the Third World War only if, for the salvation and unification of Europe, we wield the sword of God instead of the sword of Satan; that is, instead of the idea of domination by brute force, the eternal idea of voluntary cooperation for the common good."

For him, peace was not an automatic result of the end of armed conflict, but a political process to be built through common institutions, courageous choices, and a shared civic culture. Decades later, that Europe is still under construction, as David Sassoli repeated. The European Union has achieved significant achievements—the single currency, free movement, environmental cooperation, and much more—but it struggles to respond with a united voice to global crises and has so far failed to transcend national armies for a truly common defense.

In this context, the recently celebrated April 25th—the 80th anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism—is not only a significant national anniversary, but a living history lesson. It was precisely from those struggles for freedom that the continent's democratic foundations were born: the rejection of totalitarianism, the centrality of rights, the dignity of the person, the primacy of the law, peace in Europe, finally.

Reflecting on the link between the Resistance and the European project means understanding that the Union was born from a desire for peace, justice, and cohesion. This is why building Europe is also, and above all, a cultural and educational challenge: knowing the Union's advantages, of course, but also its history, its values, the challenges it has overcome and those it has yet to overcome, allows us to feel part of a new historical project. Rediscovering Einaudi in schools, as well as recounting the Resistance from a European perspective, can help educate more aware and engaged citizens.

Freedom is a fragile asset. Norberto Bobbio reminded us: it can be lost even without us realizing it. It cannot defend itself. It requires memory, commitment, responsibility. Einaudi understood that freedom and peace are not permanent achievements, but goals to be reaffirmed every day, with concrete choices, perseverance, defeats, and new beginnings.

Einaudi wrote again in 1954: "The need to unify Europe is evident. The existing states are dust without substance. None of them can bear the cost of autonomous defense. Only union can make them last. The issue is not between independence and union: it is between existing united and disappearing.

The construction of Europe is this choice. It is up to us today to make it fairer, more democratic, more inclusive, more conducive to peace and sustainable progress for the entire world. So that the memory of the precious legacy we inherit may still be the lifeblood of our future.


Luca Jahier
NP in-depth
NP May 2025
 

Luigi Einaudi fut une figure clé de l'histoire italienne, d'abord comme économiste, puis comme homme politique. Né à Carrù, dans la province de Coni, en 1874, il devint professeur d'université de sciences financières à l'Université de Turin en 1902. En 1919, il fut nommé sénateur du Royaume d'Italie. Outre ses travaux universitaires, il collabora à des journaux tels que La Stampa et le Corriere della Sera, et fut rédacteur en chef de La Riforma Sociale (1908-1935) et de La Rivista di Storia Economica (1936-1943). Il maintint son opposition au fascisme et fut l'un des plus importants partisans du fédéralisme européen.
Après le 8 septembre 1943, il fut gouverneur de la Banque d'Italie (1945-1948), député à l'Assemblée constituante, ministre du Budget (mai 1947), puis président de la République italienne (1948-1955). Il s'acquitta de cette fonction avec une rigueur extrême.
À la fin de son mandat, il reprit ses activités parlementaires et journalistiques, défendant et promouvant le libéralisme classique, dont il fut l'un des plus éminents représentants. Einaudi mourut à Rome en 1961.