Why bridging the gap between research and policy still matters, in an era of AI and geopolitical volatility

Drawing on extensive experience in EU external action and diplomacy, Dr Venneri will present key insights from his recently published book ‘Learning Policy Advice in International Affairs and Diplomacy’. Designed to bridge the gap between research and policy, the book offers practical guidance to students pursuing careers in diplomacy as well as advice to academics on how to interact more effectively with the policy world. The speaker will also reflect on the ongoing policy-making challenges related to the EU Enlargement policy, with a focus on the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova.

Bio: Giulio Venneri is an official of the European Union, currently serving at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. He holds the position of Deputy Head of Unit for Enlargement Strategy and Coordination in the Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST). His prior roles include Deputy Head of Unit in the Western Balkans Directorate, Head of the “Center of Thematic Expertise for Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights and Democracy”, and team leader for relations with Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Additionally, he was the Permanent Secretary of the International Monitoring Operation (IMO), overseeing the vetting of magistrates in Albania. Earlier in his career, he coordinated justice, freedom, and security issues in the Enlargement process and the visa liberalization dialogue.
Before joining the European civil service, Venneri worked in the “Global Issues” unit of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and on project implementation in the Middle East.

In academia, he serves as an adjunct professor at the School of Government of LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome and is a member of the Steering Committee for the degree in Policies and Governance in Europe, organised jointly with King’s College in London. He also coordinates the policy skills lab at the Diplomacy and Global Politics programme at the University of Westminster in London. Venneri earned his PhD with honours from the School of International Studies at the University of Trento. In the framework of his doctoral studies, he was visiting researcher at the University of Kent and Northwestern University in Chicago.

His recent publications include a volume on “The European Union’s Engagement with the Southern Mediterranean: Integrating the European Neighbourhood Policy” (coauthored, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), a handbook on “Learning Policy Advice in International Affairs and Diplomacy” (Routledge, 2025), and a contribution to the “Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and International Relations” on AI's role in promoting the Rule of Law (2025).