ELOUNDA, Greece — “The unexamined life is not worth living,” said Socrates. Pronounced of a Cretan summer evening in an outdoor theater, with a breeze wafting through the olive groves, the thought is doubly arresting — perhaps because it is evident in such a setting that we make poor choices in our lives by not exposing ourselves more to such beauty.

Another thing is apparent: South European nations, the “peripheral” ones in current parlance, have a hardship-softener too little factored into assessments of E.U. crisis — the sun — even if Germany has the money. That is one reason, along with the strength of family ties and the underground economy, why we have not seen a European eruption along the Mediterranean, as unemployment has soared.

Over the past three years, since Greece hit the panic button, Europe’s pain has been much examined, with inconclusive results. As Woody Allen noted, “What if the examined life turns out to be a clunker as well?”The view that the 28-nation E.U., with Croatia joining this week, and particularly its 17-nation euro zone, is now a terminal clunker has become fashionable. The crisis that began in Greece has been controlled for now, but much of Europe, including France, is in recession. The questions triggered here about the future of Europe, and its common currency, are unresolved.

The Union that was the European miracle of the second half of the 20th century now embodies the malaise of the 21st.

A counterargument exists. It is that the agony of the euro will end up illustrating Jean Monnet’s phrase that crises are the great federators of history. The planned European banking union, single supervisory system and fiscal harmonization will prove to be the catalysts of the Continent’s ever closer union.

I heard both the European break-up and breakthrough views in equal measure during a conference here. What is unquestionable is that Europe is living its deepest unease since the end of the Cold War.

France and Germany were the twinned engines of European integration: France gave the political lead, Germany the economic muscle. That is over. German dominance over a drifting France is so evident as to be almost embarrassing.

The French can no longer persuade themselves that the Union will be France writ large, and so they are ambivalent. Germany, uncertain about power because of the way it once used it, is hesitant about assuming what it is: Europe’s leading nation. It faces plenty of misgivings, not least in Greece, about any whiff of German assertiveness.

Britain might have stepped into this void. Instead, it stepped out the way. Under a Tory leader, in the grip of diffuse anger spewing from austerity, it has gone on a euro-skeptic walkabout. A referendum looks likely on continued E.U. membership in 2017.

The deepest problem is social (with the exception of the cohesive German model). Healthy markets require an equal dose of greed and fear. For a while all the easy money in the euro zone removed the fear factor. The rich got wildly richer. Now the hangover from the meltdown of 2008 persists in far sharper form than in the United States, which responded better.

It is compounded by austerity, exacerbated by strong feelings of injustice, fed by the fact that in countries like Greece credit is not getting into the real economy. Without credit there can be no resumption of growth. Massive fiscal adjustments have been made but people do not believe the worst is over — and they blame the Union.

What, they ask, is this undemocratic thing for? Not for our defense (peace is taken for granted); not for our prosperity (it has dwindled); not to build a United States of Europe that will count (the idea has become fanciful).

Ingratitude and short memories are facts of life. The Union is suffering from them at a time when the euro needs federalizing measures to be a credible currency. The question is whether these needed unifying steps are politically tenable as a populist anti-European right is rising in France, under Marine Le Pen, and elsewhere.

The federalizing path is achievable. But it will require new leadership to make the case. About 80 percent of the world’s growth in the past five years has been in developing countries. For a Europe of dwindling importance to break itself up would be to ignore the course of history.

Europe needs a persuasive idea of its future that can rebuild democratic support. It needs growth. For that it needs competitiveness. These truths must be told.

As the 100th anniversary of World War I approaches, the European killing fields of the 20th century fade. Their story, and how the Union stopped the cycle of bloodshed, and how it later cemented the freedom of ex-Communist states, needs to be retold.

The euro is a political idea born of calamitous European experience. Unraveling would provide a sharp reminder of the calamities. That truth also needs to be retold. I can think of no one better to do so than the winner of the German election in September.

Crisis can still be the federator if leaders have a sense of history and a view of the future that extends beyond tomorrow.