Enrico Letta is former Prime Minister of Italy, leader of the Partito Democratico and member of the Italian Parliament. Born in Pisa in 1966, Letta holds a doctorate in European Community law. He began his political involvement with the youth of the Democrazia Cristiana (DC). While still a student, he... Read more
Enrico Letta is former Prime Minister of Italy, leader of the Partito Democratico and member of the Italian Parliament.
Born in Pisa in 1966, Letta holds a doctorate in European Community law. He began his political involvement with the youth of the Democrazia Cristiana (DC). While still a student, he was a member of the municipal council of his hometown of Pisa from 1990to 1994and was chairman of the youth organization of the European People’s Party from 1991to 1995. At the beginning of his political career, Letta worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1993, and as Italy prepared to join the eurozone, he moved to the Ministry of Finance. In 1998, Enrico Letta is appointed Minister for European Affairs and, at 32, becomes the youngest cabinet minister in Italy’s postwar history. He then takes on the post of Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade until 2001. From 2004 to 2006, he is a member of the European Parliament.
In 2013, the pro-European Italian is asked by President Napolitano to form a government. To accept the mandate of prime minister, Letta drives to the presidential palace in his own Fiat – which is seen as a statement against the far-reaching privileges for which Italian politicians have become known. As prime minister until his resignation in February 2014, Letta heads a grand coalition of the center-left Democratic Party, the center-right People of Freedom and the centrist Civic Choice party. His goal is to reform the parliamentary system, reduce the number of deputies and change Italian electoral law to bring more stability to politics. Letta temporarily retires from active politics in 2015 and becomes dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po). He holds this position until returning to Italian politics. In March 2021, Letta is elected head of the Partito Democratico and since October 2021he has again a seat in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
From 1993 to May 2013, Enrico Letta heads the independent think tank Arel, from 2004 to 2013 he is vice-chairman of the Aspen Institute Italia, and from 2006 to 2013 he is a member of the Trilateral Commission. He has also been President of the Italy-Spain Dialogue Forum since 2000 and President of the European think tank Institut Jacques Delors since 2016. Since March 2016, he has also been a senior advisor to the U.S.-based geopolitical analysis center Eurasia Group.
Enrico Letta has received numerous awards for his political work. Among them, in 2014, the “Gran Cruz” awarded by the King of Spain for civil merit and the Biancheri Prize, intended for personalities who represent Italy in the world. In 2016 he received the Medal of the Commander of the Legion of Honor of France.
Enrico Letta is an expert on economic and political affairs in Europe. In his lectures, he provides valuable, strategic insights into the challenges facing Europe and shares his knowledge and expertise with his audience.