Enrico Letta is one of Europe’s most prominent political thinkers on the future of the Single Market and the European Union’s global competitiveness. A former Prime Minister of Italy (2013–2014), Letta now leads the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris and serves as Dean of the IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs in Madrid.
In September 2023, Enrico Letta was appointed by the European institutions to produce a high-level report on the future of the EU Single Market. His proposals, outlined in his 2025 book Europa. Última Oportunidad, call for a strategic reactivation of Europe’s economic model. Letta argues that Europe must move beyond fragmented policies to build a fully integrated market for capital, energy, and telecommunications. He defines security not just in military terms, but as energy independence, climate resilience, and regulatory cohesion.
“Europe doesn’t have a technology problem, but a mindset problem,” he told European ambassadors and business leaders in Madrid. He is critical of Europe’s risk-averse investment climate and advocates for a more unified legal framework to boost innovation and competitiveness. His core thesis: revitalising the Single Market is not a bureaucratic exercise, but a geopolitical imperative.
Enrico Letta’s concept of the “freedom to remain”—the idea that a stronger European economy should create local opportunities and reduce involuntary emigration—has resonated across sectors. He emphasises that the Single Market must enable people to thrive where they live, not push them to leave.
Letta entered politics in the late 1990s after a career in academia, serving as Minister for EU Affairs (1998–1999), Minister for Industry (2000–2001), and Member of the European Parliament (2004–2009). He led Italy’s Democratic Party from 2021 to 2023, and from 2015 to 2021, he was Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po.
Today, he continues to advise European institutions while shaping the next generation of global leaders. Letta remains a firm believer in the EU’s potential but warns that it must act decisively. “Europe is imperfect,” he says, “but it is irreplaceable.”
