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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. PERSONAL DATA pag.3
2. INTRODUCTION pag.4
3. CV SUMMARY pag.6
4. EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE pag.8
4.1. EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE
4.2. INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
5. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES pag.12
5.1. UNIVERSITY QUALIFICATIONS
5.2. POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES
5.3. ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
5.4. PRIVATE-SECTOR ACTIVITIES
6. HONOURS pag.16
7. PUBLICATIONS pag.17
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1. PERSONAL DATA
Born on 24 April 1947 in Pobla de Segur, in the province of
Lleida, Catalan Pyrenees, Spain
Languages: Spanish, Catalan, French, English, and Italian
Email: josep.borrell@maec.es
Secretary's telephone number (Ms Marga Fernández): +34 91
379 95 49
Telephone number of the Head of Staff (Mr Camilo Villarino):
+34 91 379 95 10 /98 70
Telephone number of the Head of the Transition Team (Mr
Pedro Serrano): + 32 25 84 28 86
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2. INTRODUCTION
This CV covers my political, institutional, academic, and professional
activity from 1969, when I obtained my first university degree, up to
my current position as acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, the
European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain.
In 1979, with the first democratic local elections in Spain, I assumed
my first institutional position. Forty years of intense political activity
have ensued. This CV focuses on my participation in the process of
constructing the European Union and its international aspects.
I would like to begin by highlighting that, in representation of the
Spanish Parliament, I was a member of the European Convention
(2001-2003), and participated actively in its working group on EU
foreign policy. This working group engaged in intense debate on the
advisability of creating a position initially denominated “EU Minister
for Foreign Affairs”, and of conferring upon this single figure the role
of High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security
Policy—at that time Javier Solana—as well as that of the European
Commission’s Relex Commissioner, who was then Chris Patten.
Similarly, there was much discussion regarding what this figure’s
precise functions should be.
Through this new position we sought to give unity and coherence to
the European Union’s voice and action in the world, both from the
perspective of constructing a common foreign and security policy,
and that of the external dimension of EU policies. It was a highly
controversial and much-debated decision, and at that time we were
all aware—myself in particular—of the difficulties and demands
involved in performing this complex double-hatted role.
Little did I imagine that, some years into the future, at a time when
the EU is more present than ever in all global affairs and in all regions of
the world, I would be submitting my CV to the European Parliament's
Committee on Foreign Affairs, to be able to exercise these dual
functions of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy, and of Vice-President of the European Commission
(HR/VP).
This CV is therefore structured as follows:
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3. Chronological summary of activities
4. Description of my commitment to Europe and of certain relevant
activities that I have performed in the international sphere, which
contributed to shaping my interest in and my capacity to undertake
the functions of HR/VP
5. Long version of my CV including a description of the activities to
which the chronological summary (3) refers, divided into four blocks:
5.1 University qualifications
5.2 Political and institutional activities
5.3 Academic activities
5.4 Private-sector activities
6. List of honours
7. List of publications
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3. CV SUMMARY
University qualifications
Degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Polytechnic University of
Madrid (1964-1969)
Master's degree in Oil Industry Economics and Technology,
Institut Français du Pétrole in Paris (1971-1972)
Master's degree in Applied Mathematics (Operations Research),
Stanford University, California (1974-1975)
Degree (1967-1972) and doctorate (1976) in Economics,
Complutense University of Madrid
Academic, political and professional activities
1972-1980. Engineer at the Spanish oil company CEPSA
1972-1982. Professor at the School of Economics of Complutense
University of Madrid
1982. Obtained the Chair in Foundations of Economic Analysis at
the Complutense University of Madrid
1979-1982. Candidate in the first democratic municipal elections.
City Councillor for Majadahonda and Counsellor of the Treasury
of the provincial government of Madrid
1982-1984. Secretary-General for Budgets and Public Expenditure,
Ministry of the Treasury
1984-1991. Secretary of State for the Treasury
1991-1996. Minister of Public Works, Transport,
Telecommunications, and the Environment, over the course of two
administrations
1998. Elected candidate for the Presidency of the Government in
the first primaries held in the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party
(PSOE)
1986-2003. Member of Parliament for the constituency of
Barcelona
1999-2003. Chair of the Joint Congress-Senate Committee for the
European Union
2001-2003. Representative of the Spanish Parliament in the
European Convention. Member of the External Action and
Economic Governance working groups
2004. Head of the electoral list of the PSOE in the 2004 European
elections
2004-2007. President of the European Parliament
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2007-2009. President of the European Parliament's Committee on
Development
2009-2016. Member of the Board of Directors of Abengoa, a
renewable energy company, and Chairman of its International
Advisory Committee
2010-2012. President of the European University Institute (EUI) in
Florence
2013-2016. Jean Monnet Chair, Institute for International Studies,
Complutense University of Madrid
2018-2019. Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and
Cooperation of the Government of Spain
2019. Head of the electoral list of the PSOE in the European
elections
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4. EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
4.1. EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE
I have devoted a significant part of my life, my work, and my political
activities to European issues, which have always taken a central place
in my interests and commitment. This has been the case since I was
awarded my first scholarship at the age of 17 (for an essay on Spain’s
prospects of accession, while still under the Franco regime, to what
we then called the “European Common Market”) until I was
nominated as Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union
and Cooperation in 2018.
Inter alia, I participated, as a Secretary of State, in the negotiations
surrounding Spain's accession to the European Communities. I have
represented my country for ten years (1986-1996) in three
configurations of the Council of the European Union (Economic and
Financial Affairs, Environment, and Transport and
Telecommunications); I chaired the Spanish Parliament’s Joint
Committee for the European Union; I was a member of the
Convention that drew up the draft European Constitution which went
on to become the Treaty of Lisbon; and I had the honour of being the
President of the European Parliament (2004-2007) as well as of its
Development Committee (2007-2009). Since June 2018 I have been
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation of
the Government of Spain.
In addition, I have given courses and conferences, and participated in
seminars on the European Union at numerous universities, training
centres, and international forums in many countries.
Among them I can cite some relevant examples outside of Europe,
such as the Chinese Communist Party's Cadre Academy, Vietnam’s
Institute for Policy Studies, the Raisina Dialogue in India, the World
Political Forum in Rabat, the Salvador Allende and Chile 21
Foundations, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC), universities in Chile and Ecuador, European
Studies Centres belonging to universities, such as those of Harvard,
Yale (the European Student Conference), Seattle and New York, and
Saint Petersburg in Russia, the Chilean Senate’s Congress of the
Future, the IMF conference on regional integration attended by the
Central Latin American Banks in Guatemala, seminars at the
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University of Oxford (“International Institutions in Turbulent Times”,
Saint Anthony’s College, “The Future of Government”, Christ Church
College), and international political think tanks such as the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
4.2. INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
The first times I ever crossed my country's border—something which
was not as easy back then as it is now—was for my student summer
jobs: working on a farm in Denmark, in the construction sector in
Germany, in the hospitality business in London, or harvesting grapes
in France. I can still remember the emotions I felt as a young
Spaniard upon discovering Europe—a continent which for my
generation was an existential reference that we wanted to be part of.
Since then, I have had many other international experiences, both in
my personal and professional life, with highlights including time
spent in Israel, China, El Salvador, Poland, Nepal, Sudan, Gaza,
Georgia, Armenia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Senegal, Niger, Lebanon, Jordan
and Latvia.
After completing my studies at the Polytechnic University of Madrid,
in the summer of 1969 I worked on Kibbutz Gal On, to the south of
Beersheba. I travelled all over Israel and the occupied Palestinian
territory, from the Golan Heights to Eilat. This was my first ever
contact with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As Spain’s Secretary of State for the Treasury, I visited China in 1986
to negotiate a double taxation agreement.
As President of the European Parliament I returned to China in 2006,
at the invitation of President Hu, and I visited Tibet, after having met
with the Dalai Lama in Brussels. In 2019 I represented Spain at the
Belt and Road Forum hosted by President Xi.
By invitation of the then Minister Shimon Peres I analysed the
feasibility of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project (2000).
In El Salvador, I taught courses on the democratic reintegration of
guerrillas demobilized following the Central American peace
agreements (2001).
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I participated in conferences and citizens' debates during the
referendum campaign for Poland's accession to the EU, recounting
Spain's own experience (2003).
At the request of the OSCE Chairmanship, I carried out an assessment
of the situation of the frozen conflicts in the Caucasus (in Georgia and
Armenia), in 2007.
I chaired the European Parliament’s election observation mission
during the elections in Nepal, which led to the fall of the country’s
monarchy (2008).
I led a fact-finding mission of the European Parliament in Darfur on
the conditions of the refugee camps (2008).
Together with Development aid Commissioner Louis Michel, in 2009
I participated in an Observer Mission to Gaza after the Operation Cast
Lead bombings.
By invitation of the government of Ecuador, during the term of
President Correa, I participated in the international promotion of the
project aimed at preventing drilling in the Yasuni oil fields in the
Amazon Basin (2013).
I visited the primary healthcare centres of Spanish NGOs attending to
the indigenous populations in the most remote corners of the
Amazon rainforest, in the Beni Department in Bolivia (2017).
I was a speaker at the 3
rd
Ibero-American Socioeconomics Meeting in
Cartagena de Indias, Colombia (2017).
I participated in the fact-finding mission investigating the causes of
emigration from Senegal, organized by the Migration Policy Group of
the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and led by
the former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato (2018).
As President of the European Parliament, I strongly promoted
parliamentary diplomacy. Moreover, as Chair of its Committee on
Development, I visited several of the European Commission’s field
operations for international cooperation and humanitarian
assistance, from the centres providing psychological assistance to the
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victims of guerrilla forces in Colombia, to the supply of water to
villages in Nigeria.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs, I have visited the Syrian refugee camps
in Jordan, as well as the Spanish troops in Lebanon (UNIFIL
Operation), those training the gendarmerie in Niger, those helping to
control the borders of Senegal, and those stationed in Latvia,
contributing to the security of the Baltic countries.
Finally, also as Minister of Foreign Affairs, I spent the summers of
2018 and 2019 seeking a solution to the migration problems in the
Mediterranean, understanding how essential it is to agree on a
coherent and long-term European solution.
Thus, through these varied experiences, I have witnessed first-hand
the necessity of a stronger Europe, one that defends European values
the world over in the face of threats that affect all Europeans. A
Europe that exercises international solidarity, and upholds peace and
security in the world—all issues that fall under the mandate of the
HR/VP.
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5. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES
5.1. UNIVERSITY QUALIFICATIONS
Between 1964 and 1969, I studied at the Polytechnic University of
Madrid, graduating with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.
In 1967, I began studies for a degree in Economics at the Complutense
University of Madrid, graduating in 1972, and presented my doctoral
thesis at the same university in 1976.
Between 1971 and 1972, I studied at the Institut Français du Pétrole,
receiving a master’s degree in Oil Industry Economics and Technology.
I was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study a master's degree in
Operations Research (Applied Mathematics) at Stanford University,
California (1974-1975).
5.2. POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES
In 1975, upon returning from my studies at Stanford, I joined the Spanish
Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), later becoming a member of its
directive body, the Federal Executive Committee, and of its oversight
body, the Federal Committee.
In 1979, in the first democratic municipal elections, I was elected a City
Councillor in my municipality of residence (Majadahonda, Madrid), and
served as Counsellor of the Treasury of the provincial government of
Madrid until November 1982.
Under President of the Government Felipe González, I served as
Secretary-General for Budgets and Public Expenditure (1982-1984) and
as Secretary of State for the Treasury (1984-1991).
During these nine years, I directed the transformation of Spain's Public
Treasury into one of Spain's most efficient public administrations,
including the implementation of an income and capital gains tax; the
lifting of banking secrecy; the creation of the Tax Agency; the adaptation
of our tax system following accession to the European Communities,
which, in particular, entailed implementing VAT; and the
decentralization of the Spanish State, devolving power to the regional
authorities. During this time, public revenue as a percentage of GDP rose
9 percentage points, from 23% to 32%, enabling the Spanish government
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to further develop the Welfare State.
Subsequently, I served as Minister of Public Works, Transport,
Telecommunications, and the Environment over the course of two
administrations (1991-1993 and 1993-1996).
During that period, I managed a massive infrastructure investment
process, totalling an annual amount of 3% of GDP, thanks to Spain's
greater tax resources and to EU Structural and Cohesion Funds, which
radically improved connectivity all across Spain.
The first high-speed train line was built, in addition to motorways
totalling 3000 km, and the National Airport Authority was created. The
National Maritime Rescue Agency, which is currently playing such a
crucial role, was also established during this period.
European Directives on the liberalization of transport and
communications were implemented, as well as Directives on water and
the environment.
In April 1998, I won the PSOE's first primary elections to stand as their
candidate for Presidency of the Government.
Between 1986 and 2003, I served as a Member of the Spanish Parliament
for the constituency of Barcelona.
I presided over the Parliamentary Joint Committee for the European
Union (1999-2003), and was a member of the European Convention
(2002-2003) that drafted the European Constitution.
As head of the electoral list for the PSOE in the 2004 European elections,
I was elected President of the European Parliament for the first half of the
legislature, and during the second half, I chaired its Committee on
Development.
During my term as President of the European Parliament, international
activity was stepped up; the EP’s operations were adapted to the EU's
enlargement to new Member States; and the Euro-Latin American and
Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assemblies were created, of which I
was their first Co-President.
The Statute for Members of the European Parliament, guaranteeing equal
treatment for all MEPs, was adopted under my Presidency.
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In June 2018, I was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European
Union and Cooperation of the Spanish government, a position that I hold
until the present.
In the 2019 European elections, I once again headed the electoral list of
the PSOE.
5.3. ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
Between 1972 and 1982, I taught Mathematical Analysis at the School of
Economics of Complutense, University of Madrid.
After rising through the ranks of academia, I obtained, through a
competitive exam process, the post of Chair in Foundations of Economic
Analysis at the Complutense University of Madrid, which I held until my
retirement in 2011.
From January 2010 until May 2012, I served as President of the European
University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
During this period, I promoted the Institute's internationalization,
strengthening its European focus, bridging academic activities and
policy-making and making research more policy relevant, intensifying the
Institute’s collaboration with the European Commission and the
European Parliament. Moreover, the annual “State of the Union”
conference was launched, now one of the most important events on the
European integration process; the Migration Policy Centre and the Global
Governance Programme were created; and Chairs were founded to
promote studies on governance of the Economic and Monetary Union and
on energy and climate change.
Between 2013 and 2016, for three academic years, I held the Jean
Monnet Chair for European Economic Integration at the Complutense
Institute for International Studies in Madrid.
For the last 20 years (2000-2019), I have directed the course Quo Vadis
Europa? at the Menéndez Pelayo International University in Santander,
the latest edition of which was held in August 2019.
I have given many courses and chaired conferences in Spanish
universities, particularly on the Economic and Monetary Union and on
energy and climate change policy at the Instituto de Empresa Business
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School (now IE University) in Madrid.
During the second half of my term in the European Parliament (2007-
2009), I headed the Global Progressive Forum of the Party of European
Socialists (PES).
I have been a member of the Board of Directors of the Jacques Delors-
Notre Europe Foundation (2012-2017) and am currently a member of the
honorary Council of the Jean Monnet Foundation.
Between 2017 and 2018, I was a member of the Council of the
Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), and chaired its
Research Council. Since 2017 I am a member of the advisory council of
the Graduate school for Global and international studies at the University
of Salamanca (Spain).
5.4. PRIVATE-SECTOR ACTIVITIES
For nearly 10 years, between 1972 and 1980, with the exception of my
time at Stanford, I worked as an engineer in the Spanish oil company
CEPSA.
Between June 2009 and November 2016, I was a member of the Board of
Governors of the Spanish company Abengoa, specialized in the
technological development of renewable energy sources, especially solar
thermal energy and second-generation biofuels.
From 2011, I chaired its International Advisory Council, whose members
included such prominent figures as Nicholas Stern, Kemal Dervis (former
UNDP Administrator), Nobel Laureate Mario Molina, and Ricardo
Haussman (Professor at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of
Government). From 2013, I chaired Abengoa’s Technological
Development Committee, until in 2017 the company’s Board of
Governors was replaced due to its financial crisis and concomitant
change in ownership.
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6. HONOURS
Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Coimbra,
Portugal (2006)
Grand Officer of the Wissam Alawite Order, Morocco (1996)
Grand Cross of the Spanish Orders of Carlos III (1996), Isabel la
Católica (2000), and Civil Merit (2007)
Grand Order of Queen Jelena, Croatia (2006)
Medal of the Constitutional Merit Order, Spain (2011)
Legion of Honour of France, with the Degree of Commander
(2015)
Beato de Liébana Award for Understanding and Coexistence of the
Autonomous Community of Cantabria Spain, (2018)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru (2019)
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7. PUBLICATIONS
The publications listed are a selection. They only include monographs,
chapters in books, and articles published in academic journals.
There is no listing of the dozens of op-eds published in the Spanish and
international press. The most recent of these articles was “Europa entre
USA e Irán, de la confrontación al dialogo”, in El País, 14 August 2019.
1. Métodos matemáticos para la economía. Campos y autosistemas
Editorial Pirámide, 1976
2. Métodos matemáticos para la economía. Programación matemática
Editorial Pirámide, 1977
3. La Republica de Taxonia
Mathematical modelling of problems in political decision-making
Editorial Pirámide, 1992
4. Al filo de los días
Reflections on Spanish politics
Cauce Editorial, 1998
5. Construyendo la Constitución Europea. Crónica política de la
Convención
With Carlos Carnero and Diego López Garrido
Real Instituto Elcano, 2003
Political chronicle of the drafting of the European Constitution narrated
by the Spanish socialist MPs who participated in the European
Convention
6. Compilation of speeches made while President of the European
Parliament, 2004-2007
7. Europa en la encrucijada
Josep Borrell (coordinator) et al. (With contributions from Jacques
Delors, as well as various MEPs, Commissioners and senior EU
officials)
Chapter “De Roma a Lisboa, 50 años de Europa”
Ed. Colección Estudios Socio-económicos, Mediterráneo económico12,
Fundación Cajamar (2007).
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8. Yes, the Barcelona Process was “mission impossible”, but the EU can
learn from that
In Europe’s World, Autumn 2010
Historical lessons of the EU’s policy towards its Southern
neighbourhood
9. The future role of the European Parliament
In The Delphic Oracle on Europe: Is there a Future for the EU?
Loukas Tsoukalis and Janis A. Emmanouilidis (Editors)
Oxford University Press, 2011
A study of the new powers of the European Parliament following
the Lisbon Treaty
10. Crise économique et défaite socialiste en Espagne, 2000-2011
Revue l’Ours, 2011
A study of the social and electoral consequences of the measures
required to address the 2008 crisis
11. La crisis del euro. De Atenas a Madrid
With Andreu Missé
Editorial Turpial, first edition 2011, third edition 2012
An analysis of the roots and development of the euro-crisis and
how it affected Spain
12, 13, 14, 15. Four essays featuring economic and political analyses of
“European economic governance”, from the creation of the euro to the
mechanisms and institutions established to deal with the crisis. A critical
approach to the decision-making process of the EU and proposals to
improve it:
12. El euro: una moneda sin gobierno ante la crisis
In El euro, los 10 primeros años
Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto, volume 41, 2009 (p. 33-49)
13. El gobierno económico de Europa
In Los retos de Europa. Democracia y bienestar social
Alfonso Guerra / José Félix Tezanos (Editors)
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Editorial Sistema, 2012
14. El gobierno económico europeo
In No es economía, es ideología
Editorial Planeta-Deusto, 2012
15. De la crisis del euro a la crisis de Europa
In Letra Internacional, no. 116, 2013
16. The EU in international trade and climate change negotiations
In Multilevel governance of interdependent public goods
Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann (Editor)
Cambridge University Press, 2013
An analysis of the EU’s role in the global governance of
international trade and climate change, as a case study of the EU’s
role in multilateral negotiations
17. Is a federal Europe possible?
In The Federalist Debate, year XXVII, no. 3, November 2014
18. A progressive vision for Europe, a view from Spain
In Shaping a Different Europe. Contributions to a Critical Debate
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Ed. Dietz, 2014
19. About the democratic governance of the euro
In The Future of Europe
Rowman & Littlefield, 2014
20. The crisis and the weakness of the European demos
In The Federalist Debate, year XXVIII, no. 3, November 2015
21. A new ambition to overcome the existential crisis of the
European Union
In The Federalist Debate, year XXX, no. 1, March 2018
22, 23, 24. Three essays on Catalan independence and its implications for
Spain and Europe:
22. Las cuentas y los cuentos de la independencia
(With Joan Llorach)
Editorial La Catarata, 2015
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23. Escucha España, escucha Catalunya
(with Francesc de Carreras, Juan-José López Burniol and Josep Piqué
Editorial Península, 2017
24. Anatomía del procés
Various authors
Editorial Debate, 2018
25. For a stronger and more united Europe
In The Federalist Debate, XXXII, no. 1, March 2019
26. Spain in Europe and the World: A Roadmap
In The Santa Cruz Journals
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain, 2019
Reflections on a year at the helm of Spanish foreign policy
27. Fragmentos de exteriores
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain, 2019
Compilation of 46 op-eds and magazine articles by Josep
Borrell, published between June 2018 and July 2019
