Experts & Staff

Silvia Francescon

ECFR Alumni · Head, ECFR Rome Office

Areas of expertise

International relations, global governance, G8 and G20, environment and development

Languages

Italian and English

Biography

Silvia Francescon is the head of the Rome office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Her topics of focus include global governance, the G8 and G20, and international development. 

Before joining ECFR, Franceson was deputy head of the G8-G20 Sherpa office at the Italian Prime Minister’s Office. She was in charge of co-ordinating the Prime Minister and Sherpa’s G8 and G20 policy dossiers and bilaterals. She also served the United Nations as Co-ordinator of the Millennium Campaign in Italy and is a former negotiator of international and European agreements for the Italian Ministry for the Environment. Previously, Franceson worked at the OECD (Environment Directorate), the WTO (Legal Affairs Division), and the European Commission (DG Agriculture). She was also a research fellow in the International Law Departments of the Universities of Leiden (NL) and Ferrara (Italy). She holds a Masters in International Environmental Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, London) and graduated cum laude in International Law from the University of Ferrara, where she was awarded of the title of “cultore della materia” in International Law.

Italy plays in the Penta League

Can the unlikely bedfellows of the Five Star Movement and the League really make government work?

Views from the capitals: Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal

We asked our national offices to outline how the E3, in cooperation with other EU partners, should respond to the JCPOA pull-out by the US

Views from the capitals: European dreams for 2018

We asked our national offices to outline their governments’ greatest hope and greatest fear for foreign and European policy in 2018. 

Views from the Capitals: Working with President Macron

Macron’s win was received with a sigh of relief across Europe, but what follows cannot be “politics as usual”. Can he garner support in the European Union?

Publications

Articles

Italy plays in the Penta League

Can the unlikely bedfellows of the Five Star Movement and the League really make government work?

Views from the capitals: Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal

We asked our national offices to outline how the E3, in cooperation with other EU partners, should respond to the JCPOA pull-out by the US

Views from the capitals: European dreams for 2018

We asked our national offices to outline their governments’ greatest hope and greatest fear for foreign and European policy in 2018. 

Views from the Capitals: Working with President Macron

Macron’s win was received with a sigh of relief across Europe, but what follows cannot be “politics as usual”. Can he garner support in the European Union?

View from Rome: Reflection before renewal

Italy sees the European Council as a forum for policy and political discussion, where measures should be debated instead of simply adopted. 

View from Rome: Europe is alive but needs to kick

Bratislava is the perfect opportunity for Europe’s leaders to live up to their responsibilities in delivering concrete responses to Europe's challenges

View from Rome: A harsh wake-up call

All in all, the sentiment in Italy is that, at the end of the day, the UK has never truly been part of Europe

Podcasts

In the media