Collazzo, Michele

Michele Collazzo is a PhD candidate at the University of Bologna and a PhD Fellow at UNU-CRIS within the Re-LAB Cluster. His research examines the partnership between the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU), with a particular focus on AU agency in shaping EU foreign policy. Grounded in the decentring Europe agenda, his work critically interrogates Eurocentric assumptions and brings African perspectives and practices to the forefront of inter-regional analysis.

During his PhD Fellowship at UNU-CRIS, Michele will primarily work on analysing the data collected during his fieldwork in Addis Ababa, undertaken as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS). His research will focus on how inter-regional interactions unfolded in practice and on identifying the ways through which the AU exercised agency and affected EU policy decision. This stage of the project will enable him to consolidate empirical findings, refine his analytical framework, and contribute to a deeper understanding of AU–EU relations, under the supervision of Frank Mattheis.

Michele previously gained experience in research and policy analysis through trainee roles at the International Crisis Group in Brussels and the EU Delegation to the United States in Washington, D.C. He was also a Visiting Scholar within the Europaeum Scholars Programme at the University of Oxford. He holds an MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies from the College of Europe and an MA in International Relations and European Studies from LUISS University.