Josep Borrell
Date of Birth: 24.04.1947
Josep Borrell Fontelles - Spanish politician, economist, engineer. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since December 1, 2019. Member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), President of the European Parliament from July 20, 2004, to January 16, 2007.
Place of Birth. Education. Josep Borrell was born in the village of La Pobla de Segur (Catalonia, Spain) and grew up there, where his father owned a small bakery. At the age of 10, Josep left school and continued his education through distance learning while working in the family bakery. He completed his education in Lleida (Catalonia). After graduating from high school, Borrell went to Barcelona to study accounting but interrupted his studies in 1965 to pursue 'Aerospace Engineering' at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, which he completed in 1969. While studying in Madrid, Borrell started studying economics at the Complutense University. He interned in the USA and France and defended his doctoral thesis. Borrell is regarded as the best-educated Spanish Socialist.
Career. From 1972 to 1981 he worked as an engineer at the Spanish oil company CEPSA and taught at the Complutense University. He became one of the leading trade union leaders.
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Political Career. He joined the socialist party in 1974. In 1979 he became head of the finance department of the Madrid regional government, and in 1982 the new PSOE government under Felipe Gonzales appointed him finance minister.
In 1986 he was elected to the Spanish Parliament for the province of Barcelona and remained a member of parliament until 2004.
In 1998 he competed in the PSOE Secretary-General primaries against Joaquín Almunia to represent the party in the 2000 general elections. Under pressure from PSOE, Borrell had to resign in 1999.
In 2004, Prime Minister and PSOE Secretary-General José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero proposed Borrell to head the list of socialist candidates for the European elections. By a narrow margin, Borrell eventually managed to win the elections.
From January 2007 to January 2009, he was the chairman of the Development Committee. On December 12, 2008, Borrell was nominated for the position of President of the European University Institute and took office in January 2010.
In the presidential elections of the European Parliament, Borrell received an absolute majority of the votes (388 out of 700) in the first round. The other two candidates were Polish liberal Bronisław Geremek (208 votes) and French communist Francis Wurtz (51 votes). As part of an agreement with the conservative faction in Parliament (European People's Party), Borrell was replaced in the second half of his presidency by the German conservative politician Hans-Gert Pöttering (2007-June 2009).
From June 7, 2018, to November 1, 2019 - Foreign Minister in the government of Pedro Sánchez.
On July 2, 2019, the EU heads of state and government proposed Josep Borrell as a candidate for the position of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at a special summit. He took office on December 1, 2019.
Personal Life. In the summer of 1969, he lived in a kibbutz in Israel, where he met his future French wife, Caroline Meyer. They have two children. They are currently divorced. Since 1998, Borrell has been in a relationship with Cristina Narbona, the former environment minister of Spain.
26.09.2023