Josep Borrell is Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Elcano Royal Institute and President of CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs). From 2019 to 2024, he served as the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, guiding EU foreign policy during a period marked by significant geopolitical challenges, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the global energy transition, and rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
Previously, Borrell was Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union, and Cooperation (2018-2019). He served as President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007 and subsequently chaired its Committee on Development from 2007 to 2009. Earlier in his career, he was a Member of the Spanish Parliament from 1986 to 2003 and held several senior government positions, including Minister of Public Works, Transport, Telecommunications and the Environment (1991-1996), Secretary of State for the Treasury (1984-1991), and Secretary-General for Budget and Public Expenditure (1982-1984).
In academia, Borrell held the Jean Monnet Chair of European Economic Integration at the Complutense University of Madrid from 2013 to 2017 and served as President of the European University Institute in Florence from 2010 to 2012. He began his professional career in academia as a professor of mathematics at the Higher Technical School of Aeronautical Engineering and at the Complutense University of Madrid (1972-1982).
Borell holds degrees in aeronautical engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and in economics from the Complutense University of Madrid, where he also earned a doctorate in economic sciences. He further completed a master’s degree in oil industry economics and technology at the French Institute of Petroleum in Paris, and a master’s degree in applied mathematics (operations research) at Stanford University. He has received numerous distinctions, including the French Légion d’honneur.
