Roberto Santaniello was born in Rome. He obtained a degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Politics in November 1985. He joined the European Parliament and the European Commission for a traineeship between 1986 and 1988.
He was a teacher, researcher, journalist and consultant for the Italian Ministry for EU Affairs from March 1984 to October 1991.
He returned to the European Parliament from March 1988 to March 1990 as an assistant to a MEP.
He later became administrator at DG III (Industry and Internal Market) for Information Policy, staff member of the cabinet of Commissioner Carlo Ripa di Meana and member of the staff of the European Commission vice President Antonio Ruberti.
After these assignments, he was appointed administrator at DG III (Industry and Internal Market) for Industrial Cooperation and at the Commission General Secretariat for Institutional Affairs, responsible for the press and communication office at the Commission Representation in Rome.
He took up a position within the regional representation of the Commission in Milan as well as being deputy head and spokesperson at the Commission bureau in Rome and policy officer at the European Commission (Desk for the Presidencies).
In the recent years, he held various posts such as director of International Affairs in the cabinet of the Mayor of Milan, coordinator of the European Commission Visitors’ Centre in Brussels and Audio-visual Senior Adviser at the Commission bureau in Rome.
He was the author of several books and was awarded by the Accademia dei Lincei in 2019 for his contribution to the European Political Science.