Tribute in memory of the builder of Europe, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa (1940-2010)

On this anniversary of his passing, our President, Enrico Letta, writes:

“During this incredible year of 2020, I have often wondered what Tommaso would have thought of the enormous changes that these events are bringing to the European Union, which is growing and becoming more united. I am convinced that he would have welcomed these changes with enthusiasm.

The same enthusiasm with which he participated, while working at the heart of European decision-making, in the construction of the new Europe that emerged after the fall of the Berlin Wall, alongside our founder, Jacques Delors. This year, 2020, would probably have reinforced his belief that when it comes to Europe, we must not be afraid to imagine the impossible. And he would have urged us at the Institute to redouble our efforts and activities to support the achievement of European advances that, until yesterday, were only conceived but seemed out of reach, such as the European fiscal stimulus. Let us dedicate these new concrete achievements to Tommaso.

Our founding President, Jacques Delors, echoes Enrico Letta’s words, saying: ‘I remember Tommaso as a remarkable builder of Europe. It is with admiration and emotion that I remember this man who taught me so much.’

The day after his death, Jacques Delors celebrated his memory in the columns of the journal Commentaires in an article available here.

Pascal Lamy, President Emeritus of the IJD, adds, “Ten years after Tommaso left us, I would like to reiterate how important he was to the development of the enterprise that Jacques Delors had initiated fifteen years earlier by creating Notre Europe. As everyone knows, his thinking had long had a profound influence on Jacques. He could have been content with the influential role he exercised with such talent. But he wanted to go further by creating a “second sister” in Berlin, as his disciple Henrik Enderlein puts it. And these two sisters now have a third little sister in Brussels. This will help to keep alive, deepen and spread the spirit of deep European unity that inspired him. Thanks in large part to him, this spirit remains the hallmark of us Delorians.

Nicole Gnesotto, Vice-President of the IJD, recalls, “He intimidated me. It was his combination of great culture and constant simplicity that fascinated me. His book, Contre la courte vue (Against Short-Sightedness), is one of the must-reads I give my students. I love the title: unfortunately, it sums up quite well the evil that afflicts us today.

Also remembering Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, his fellow countryman, Riccardo Perissich, “highlights two qualities of the man who was an eminent colleague and a loyal friend. He shared with Jacques Delors the rare quality among intellectuals of combining depth of thought with effective communication. Like his friend and mentor Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, he was also capable of inspiring both a strong European passion and an unshakeable Italian patriotism.”

Elisabeth Guigou recalls “Tommaso: a radiant smile, mischievous eyes, an intense ability to listen, great kindness, unfailing humour, a gift for friendship. And also immense culture, a sharp and laser-like intelligence, a rigorous economist concerned with social progress. I met him in 1989 during the French Presidency, when the decision was taken to convene the Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union, thanks to the combined efforts of Jacques Delors, François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl. But before, during and after this historic decision, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa was the talented and determined architect of the arduous journey towards the single currency .

For MP Jean-Louis Bourlanges, also a member of our Board of Directors: “Tommaso would have suffered in recent years to see Europe moving away from everything he loved about it, which is exactly what we loved about him: peace of mind and the will to move forward. I think he would be delighted today to see Europeans reconnecting, albeit amid uncertainty and effort, with their original ambition. We love Europe too much not to think of him with undiminished emotion.”

‘Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa had a brilliant mind, firm convictions and a talent for governing in which the search for consensus did not exclude the ability to make decisions,’ adds Sophie-Caroline de Margerie. “He showed everyone the utmost courtesy, which, beyond mere formality, demonstrated his respect for others. He knew how to lead, he knew how to listen, he knew how to smile.‘

’To write is to erase.‘ This saying by an eminent fellow author, which he liked to quote, has always stayed with me. No one could better describe his political style, which was relevant and concise,’ says Christian Stoffäes.

For his part, Laurent Cohen-Tanugi ‘has fond memories of the American tour that Tommaso decided to undertake shortly before his death to raise awareness of Notre Europe among our friends in American think tanks at Harvard, New York, Washington, etc. It was a special and very warm moment of intimacy.’

Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul, who took part in the trip and worked directly with Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa at the Institute, recalls: “I was extremely fortunate to have Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa as President for five of the seven years I spent as Secretary General of Notre Europe. We sorely miss his determined smile, his tireless perseverance as a European activist and idealist, his unique expertise as a scholar and practitioner, and his benevolent presence. Notre Europe, now the Jacques Delors Institute, owes him a great deal. On this sad anniversary, my thoughts are with his family and loved ones, and my hopes are pinned on the European ideal that inspired him.”