about me

I am an international and EU economic lawyer. I have always had a strong interest in the regulation of economic processes, especially from an international or transnational perspective. Within this broad area, I am intrigued by everything trade and competition. A specific leit motiv of my research so far has been how the roles of the State and the market are continuously shaped and reshaped in international and domestic laws.

Let me say something about me as a scholar. I have always considered the role of the scholar as a search for a logic, an order, a reason, and a duty to declare when there is none. I strongly believe in the historical, contextual and comparative methods. History matters. Context matters. Comparisons enrich. There is a world elsewhere – current and past – from which we can all learn a lot. I also consider essential to draw from other disciplines. How, for example, can one do economic law if he or she does not have a proper understanding of the economic facts or analysis? If all these methods are extremely useful, at the same time, however, I believe that the law is the beginning and the end of any analysis that pretends to be legal. Law is the master (or mistress, if you wish). If there is a forest, this is made up of trees. If you forget this, you are doomed to wander through the platitudes. Grand legal theories may be useful but it is a long way to them, and they are always the end of the scholarly process. More radically, they by no means can be severed from the understanding of the law and its technicalities.

But how did I become interested in law and in international trade in particular? After receiving a high school diploma in classical studies (Liceo Classico) in 1989, I moved on to study law at the Catholic University in Milan, a traditionally solid no-frill university, where I graduated (summa cum laude) with a final dissertation on “Necessity in criminal law”. I enjoyed researching and writing up enormously but criminal law was not in my future. I did my articles in a wonderful niche law firm in Milan, mostly focusing on general commercial practice in Italo-Swedish transactions (the other lawyer, my boss, was dually qualified in Italy and in Sweden), brushing up my English, and preparing for the first big change to come. In 1998 I moved to London, to attend an MA in Advanced European Studies at King’s College, arguably one of the best places in Europe to study EU law. It is really there that I consolidated my academic skills and learned what being a scholar really means. After obtaining the masters (with distinction), and re-qualifying as Solicitor of England and Wales (ah, the beauty of living the free movement EU law guarantees!), I started my PhD studies with a comparative analysis of EU and WTO law under the kind and firm stewardship of Piet Eeckhout and Andrea Biondi. That was the time when the WTO was still the new kid on the block and comparisons were blossoming (think of Weiler’s great Towards a Common Law of International Trade 2000 book). In the middle of the PhD another big, huge change: the opportunity to serve in Francis Jacobs’ cabinet at the European Court of Justice! And all because of a case-note, written in Italian, in a case where Jacobs had acted as Advocate General and whose Opinion I had relentessly criticized in a 30-page-note (unwisely called “brief glosses”!). I still remember my PhD viva, held in Francis Jacobs’ office in an Autumn afternoon of 2006. The intellectual exchange with my examiners (Claus-Dieter Ehlermann and David O’Keeffe) belongs to the memories I will always treasure.

Cabinet of Advocate General Jacobs, European Court of Justice, September 2002.

Fast forward more than two decades now. I am lucky enough to hold several positions with different institutions. This exposes me to different academic and cultural environments, which is crucial if one wants to avoid parochialism – a mortal sin in academia (actually, in any area!). Particularly, while since February 2025 my main job is with the Department of International, Legal, Historical and Political Studies of the University of Milan, Italy, where I am Associate Professor in International law, I am currently also

  • Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University of Birmingham, School of Law, February 2025 – to date
  • Faculty Member, Georgetown University’s Center for Transnational Legal Studies (CTLS), London, May 2023 – to date
  • Faculty Member, International Trade Institute, Dublin, February 2023 – to date
  • Visiting Professor, Master of Laws, International Trade Law, International Training Centre, ILO, Turin, March 2022 – to date
  • Visiting Professor, Master in European and International Business, Competition and Regulatory Law, Freie Universität, Berlin, 2019 – to date
  • PhD Committee Member, Catholic University, Milan, 2018 – to date
  • Faculty Member, Master in International Law and Economics (MILE/TRAIL+), World Trade Institute (WTI), Berne, Switzerland, 2009 – to date
  • Visiting Fellow, Centre of European Law, School of Law, King’s College London, 2007 – to date

In the past, I have had the good fortune to serve various institutions. I have certaintly received more than what I have given back. Notably, I was:

University of Turin, School of Law, Italy

  • Senior Research Fellow in International Law (2022-2025)
  • Member of the Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies degree faculty

University of Birmingham, School of Law, UK

Reader in International Economic Law, 2012 – February 2022

  • Deputy-Director (2008 – 2018, 2019 – 2022) and Director (2018-2019) of the Institute of European Law
  • Member of the Research Committee, 2012-2014
  • Senior Lecturer, 2012
  • Lecturer, 2007 – 2012

University of Leicester, School of Law, UK

  • Lecturer in International Trade Law, 2005 – 2007
  • Member of the LLM Committee; member of the Research Committee

European Court of Justice, Luxembourg

  • Legal clerk (référendaire), Chambers of Advocate General Francis Jacobs, 2002 – 2003

I also had brief stints in a big company’s law department (BT) and in a top barristers’ chambers (Brick Court) in London. Marvelous experiences where I could practice EU and competition law.

In the past, I have also visited various academic establishments for teaching or research purposes. In particular, I was

  • Adjunct Professor, Catholic University, Milan: “EU law” (“Diritto dell’Unione Europea”) main course, full degree in law, 2022
  • Adjunct Professor, Bocconi University, Milan: Module: “Law and public policy” (BSc in Economics and Social Sciences) 2021-2022
  • Visiting Professor, Università Statale di Milano, “EU trade law and sustainability”, 2021
  • Robert Schuman Senior Research Fellow, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI, 2020-2021
  • Robert Schuman Senior Research Fellow, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI, 2012-2013
  • Visiting Fellow, Department of Law, EUI, 2011-2012
  • Visiting Lecturer in LLM EU State Aid Law, King’s College London, 2011
  • Visiting Professorial Fellow, Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL), Georgetown Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 2010
  • Visiting Professor, School of Law, Bocconi University, Milan, 2009
  • Visiting Fellow, World Trade Institute, Bern, 2009
  • Visiting Professorial Fellow, Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL), Georgetown Law Center, Georgetown University, Washington DC, 2007
  • Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Economics and International Relations (ASERI), Catholic University, Milan, 2005-2010