European integration is not only a question of regulations and directives

The European integration process is often considered narrowly as a project based on harmonization of legislation, economies and sector policies, on the gradual approximation of tangible and positive factors. Immaterial cultural constants - be they national, regional, historical – are not part of the equation.

This article retraces some antecedents of European unification and cultural conflict in a wider historical perspective. In this context, the Protestant Reformation represents but one, albeit important, actualization of an ancient North-South antinomy. Also from this viewpoint the theological impact and political consequences of the Church Reform appear as less relevant than the powerful demonstration of cultural discrepancies brought about by the religious encounters and disputes during the XVIth century, prefiguring contemporary ways of managing integration.