There can be few better places to contemplate Europe’s destiny than the hills that look south across Florence, the city that nurtured the continent’s intellectual rebirth during the Renaissance. Such is the mission of the European University Institute (EUI), set up in 1976 and housed there in some of the glorious villas that Italy keeps lying around for such purposes. The institute’s founding document speaks of fostering “the advancement of learning in fields which are of particular interest for the development of Europe”. Though relatively little-known, the EUI is among the world’s foremost graduate schools, with departments of economics, history, law, and political and social sciences.