David Sassoli, the Brückenbauer (bridge builder), President of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2022, until his death from cancer, carried out the thought “Nothing can be indifferent to me.” Let’s find out who he was and his relationship with young Europeans.
His story
David Maria Sassoli was born in Florence on May 30, 1956. He was a journalist, politician, and man of Italian and European institutions. After enrolling in a bachelor’s degree in political science at “La Sapienza” University in Rome, he began his career as a journalist, working for several newspapers before joining RAI in 1992, Italy’s national television, where he became one of the best-known faces of the TV news, serving as deputy director.
In 2009, Sassoli embarked on a political career, running with the PD (Democratic Party in Italy) in the European elections, a party that in the European Parliament belongs to the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Elected with a significant number of votes, he was confirmed as a Member of the European Parliament until July 2019, when Sassoli was elected President of the European Parliament, a role he played with great commitment until his untimely death. During his presidency, he stood for his humanistic and solidaristic approach, promoting policies of integration, social equity and defense of human rights. He played a key role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, advocating a united European response in solidarity. Greatly inspired by the thinking of the Italian constituent father Giorgio La Pira, he is remembered for his integrity, his passion for Europe and his desire to build a more just and inclusive European Union.
Why is it important to remember David Sassoli and his efforts for young Europeans?
Remembering David Sassoli means keeping in mind that there are successful leadership models based on principles such as humanity, solidarity and social justice. During his tenure as President of the European Parliament, he demonstrated how fostering a more united and inclusive Europe makes it possible to respond to global challenges with a spirit of cooperation.
David Sassoli has played a significant role in promoting and defending opportunities for young Europeans during his term as President of the European Parliament. Some of the main contributions he has made have been supporting education and mobility, through European programs such as Erasmus+, which offer young people the opportunity to study, train and work abroad. These programs are key to building a sense of European identity among the younger generation and promoting academic and job mobility.
Official portrait of EP President David Sassoli – 9th Parliamentary term (Credits photo David Sassoli: © European Union 2019 – Source : EP, CC BY4.0,https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112261100)
Another important point Sassoli worked hard on was the fight and commitment to youth employment, highlighting the need to address youth unemployment, a problem that plagues many EU countries. He then encouraged policies that would create decent work opportunities for young people, recognizing that their future is crucial to the future of Europe itself.
Building a better future was as important to him as maintaining a strong historical memory as this will always allow us to remember how the union of European states arose from the rubble of past tragedies, but also from the commitment of those who fought against the atrocities of war, for freedom and democracy.
David Sassoli left an indelible mark with his commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. During such a complex time, he ensured that the European Union responded to the crisis with solidarity, introducing unprecedented economic and social support measures. His long-term outlook prompted him to lay the groundwork for reforms that could strengthen Europe and prevent the return of nationalism and division.
In a post he published on Facebook on July 16, 2021, he wrote: “So many young people love Europe more and more, because Europe ensures rights and opportunities as never before in history.” He wrote this sentence in the occasion of one of his speeches at the awarding of a degree in memory of a young man from Trent, Antonio Megalizzi, an Italian journalist with a passion for radio and very active in the European Union, who lost his life on December 11, 2018, in the terrorist attack on the Strasbourg Christmas market. “It was an honour for me, and a further incentive to work tirelessly so that the European dream of so many young people is more and more real every day.”
Hence his desire to involve young people in European decision-making processes. Listening to and being open to them led him to embrace many of their struggles, supporting, for example, that for climate justice with the European Green Deal, or the seek for an inclusive and diversity-friendly Europe. He declared at the last European Council he attended on December 16, 2021: “Europe also and above all needs a new project of hope,” an ideal of “a Europe that innovates, a Europe that protects, and a Europe that is a beacon”. This is how we want to remember him, in a complex historical period when, in the world, there are 56 conflicts ongoing, to date.
David Sassoli died on January 11, 2022, prematurely at the age of 65 from cancer. His legacy, however, remains alive in his speeches and in the memories of those who worked with him. The Rome in which he grew up greeted him on a sunny day, inside the church in Piazza Esedra once reserved for the ceremonies of sovereigns, filled with the representatives of politics. From European summits with Ursula von der Leyen to Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
