Fight Terrorism & Organised Crime

Dr. Florent BLANC, Ph.D. is Director of the “Negotiators of Europe” research and training program at ESSEC Business School.
He is the consortium team leader for the implementation of the Framework Contract (HR/R1/PO/2019/024 - LOT 3) covering the conception and delivery of negotiation-related trainings and services for the European institutions. This consortium joins the teams of College of Europe and the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA).
As part of ESSEC IRENE’s negotiation training team, Florent delivers negotiation-related modules for the European Commission, public institutions in France and around the globe as well as private sector clients.
He contributed to capacity4dev activities as a member of the pool of trainers delivering Policy Dialogue and Negotiation as well as Context for Development modules under recent training contracts. For over 7 years, he also contributed to develop and adapt dedicated training modules for EUD teams (Nepal, Ivory Coast and Barbados). He also advised EUD on contractual negotiations for large infrastructure projects.

He contributed to the EU-PALOP-TL partnership by proposing a reflexion on the dialogue mechanisms and necessary capacity-building for Members of the partnership.

Florent holds a PhD from Northwestern University where he was George Lurcy scholar (Fulbright Program 2004-2005) and adjunct professor between 2006 and 2010. With a focus on national security policies and counterterrorism, Florent taught also courses in immigration policies, social changes, legal studies and journalism methodologies. From 2011 to 2016, he was West African Program manager for a French NGO where he oversaw and delivered projects on social cohesion, crisis prevention and education policy reform, with a focus on Mali. Florent also holds a doctorate from SciencesPo Paris.

I am a mid-level law enforcement and public administration professional with over 20 years of experience in operational leadership, police training, and international cooperation. As a Kriminalhauptkommissar and graduate in Public Administration (Dipl.-Verwaltungswirt FH), I have successfully led teams, managed projects, and contributed to both national and EU-level initiatives.

My professional focus lies in bridging operational expertise with strategic objectives—especially in areas such as international police cooperation, capacity building, and the implementation of EU internal security standards. I have participated in EU and UN missions in post-conflict environments and served as a certified CEPOL trainer for European law enforcement cooperation and leadership development.

I bring strong interpersonal and intercultural skills, combined with hands-on experience in Twinning, TAIEX, and institutional networking. I am committed to supporting resilient, transparent, and effective public institutions—especially through training, project coordination, and international knowledge exchange.

Fluent in German and English, with working knowledge of Italian, I am open to international assignments and motivated to contribute to collaborative, future-oriented solutions within the European security and governance landscape.

I am a programme and project manager for EU and UN funded projects in the security sector, specialised in capacity building actions, police and military training, institutional advising, with specific focus on counter-terrorism, asymmetric threats, organised crime, technology innovation and research.

I directly participated in about 60 projects over 17 years in Europe, South East Asia, MENA, Sahel, Horn of Africa regions, as project manager, team member or short term expert.
I hold a Degree in Law and Master Degrees in “Theories and Methods in criminal investigation” and in "Strategic Information and Information Security", as well as specialization courses in CBRNe intelligence, crisis management, civil-military cooperation, law enforcement.

Italian Carabinieri military officer (reserve) specialised in international cooperation, I work as Senior Expert in EU funding at Eutalia (public company), dealing with operational as well as administrative and contractual duties.
Member of the Management Board at the Observatory on Security and CBRNe Defence – OSDIFE, Italy and co-founder at Il Caffè Geopolitico, cultural association and magazine on geopolitics.

With over a decade of experience in an international environment, I am a results-driven project manager skilled in orchestrating complex European Commission projects. My expertise spans monitoring and evaluation, activity coordination, e-learning development, learning design, and training delivery. I excel at transforming partner needs and available resources into streamlined, efficient, and impactful processes.

I have successfully designed and managed diverse Train-the-Trainers courses, e-learnings, table-top and in-person exercises, and led working groups to address specific challenges. My coordination and support of 10 international joint police operations in the Western Balkans underscore my ability to thrive under pressure while fostering collaboration.

Passionate about continuous improvement, I am a team player with a pragmatic approach, always eager to take on new challenges and drive meaningful results.