Michael A. Köhler

From 1994 to 2024, Michael Köhler worked in the European Commission, occupying a variety of posts in foreign affairs, energy, maritime policies and policy coordination. From 2019 to 2024 he was Deputy Director-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations and Acting Director-General from 2022 to 2023. Previously, he served as Director for EU-Neighbourhood Policy responsible for cooperation with Mediterranean Arab countries and Israel (2015-2019), Director for the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood (2013-2014), Head of Cabinet to Commissioner for Energy (2010-2013) and Head of Cabinet to Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (2008-2010).
Before joining the EU service, Köhler represented Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation in Morocco and Tunisia, and later served as an official in the Policy Planning Department of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development.
In June 2023, Köhler was appointed Ambassador and co-lead of the Grand Bargain agreement (Geneva) to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian action.
Michael Köhler holds a D.Phil. in History and Middle Eastern Studies (Hamburg University 1987) and has more than 30 years of academic teaching experience. Since 1997 he has been a professor for “Europe and the Mediterranean” at the College of Europe in Bruges. He has been teaching at Sciences-Po Paris and Université Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, and is an Associate Professor at Université Euro-Méditerranéenne de Fès, Morocco. He is also a professor and Senior Fellow at LUISS Guido Carli’s Master Programme in Mediterranean Cooperation and Security. Dr Köhler is an Associate Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council Middle East Programme and a Senior Fellow or Board Member of various EU, German, Belgian, Spanish, Swiss, Dutch, US- and UK-based foundations and think tanks in international relations, peace and mediation, and development studies.