Josep Borrell
Encyclopedia
Josep Borrell Fontelles (La Pobla de Segur
, 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician. He was nominated President of the European University Institute
on 12 December 2008, and assumed this position in January 2010. Borrell was President
of the European Parliament
from 20 July 2004 until 16 January 2007. Elected for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
(PSOE), he sits with the Party of European Socialists
group, and is the leader of the Spanish delegation. As of January 2007 he is chair of the Committee on Development
.
In the presidential vote, out of 700 MEPs he received an absolute majority with 388 votes at the first ballot. The other two candidates were the Polish
Liberal Bronisław Geremek (208 votes) and the French communist Francis Wurtz
(51 votes). As part of a deal with the conservative faction in the parliament, the EPP, he was succeeded as president of the parliament by the German conservative politician Hans-Gert Pöttering
in the second part of this term, which is from 2007 to June 2009.
. He went to Barcelona
to study industrial accounting, but left after a year in 1965 to go and study aeronautical engineering at the Technical University of Madrid
(UPM), graduating in 1969. During this time he also began to study economic sciences at the Complutense University. In the summer of 1969 he stayed on a kibbutz
in Israel, where he met his future French wife Carolina Mayeur, from whom he is now divorced. In 1975 he worked in Madrid as an engineer for the state petroleum company Campsa
, joining PSOE in the same year even though it was an illegal party until February 1977. In 1979 he became a member of the Madrid Parliament until 1982 when the new PSOE government of Felipe González
appointed him to a post within the Ministry of Economy with responsibility for fiscal policy. In 1986 he was elected to the Spanish Parliament representing Barcelona Province
and remained an MP until 2004. In 1998 he ran against PSOE's General Secretary Joaquin Almunia
in an primary election
intended to determine who the party would nominate as its prime ministerial candidate in the 2000 General Elections, but due to internal pressures within the PSOE, Borrell resigned from candidacy in 1999.
He had to publicly deny rumors that he was a homosexual, while asserting his respect for homosexuals.
In 2004 Prime Minister and PSOE's General Secretary José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
proposed Borrell to lead the Socialist Ticket in the 2004 European Elections managing to win the elections by a narrow margin.
Since 1998, Borrell has been in a relationship with Cristina Narbona
, ex-Environment Minister of Spain.
in the European Union
which have not experienced the rigours of war, demonstrating a lack of knowledge in history. Two of the three Nordic countries which are in the EU were involved in conflict during World War II. Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union, while Denmark suffered from German
occupation. Borrell was trying to defend the decision by the European Parliament
to acquire their premises in Strasbourg
, and pointed out that much of the opposition came from people in countries which supposedly had not experienced war. His remarks drew sharp criticism in papers throughout the Nordic countries. The Swedish language
newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet
in Finland offered an open invitation to Borrell to visit the graves of war victims in Finland, while Finnish MEPs called Borrell's knowledge about European history "embarrassing".
The next day, Borrell claimed he was only referring to Sweden, and apologized for offending people with his comments. This remark only served to worsen the criticism, with Danish, Norwegian and Finnish papers pointing out a lack of knowledge not only about history but also about geography, apparently ignoring the fact that Norway and Finland are generally considered Nordic countries.
La Pobla de Segur
La Pobla de Segur is a town and municipality located in the comarca of Pallars Jussà, province of Lleida, Catalonia, in northern Spain. According to the 2009 census , the town has a population of 3,237 inhabitants. It is situated at the confluence of the Flamicell and Noguera Pallaresa rivers in...
, 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician. He was nominated President of the European University Institute
European University Institute
The European University Institute ' in Florence is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute established by European Union member states to contribute to cultural and scientific development in the social sciences, in a European perspective...
on 12 December 2008, and assumed this position in January 2010. Borrell was President
President of the European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...
of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
from 20 July 2004 until 16 January 2007. Elected for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
(PSOE), he sits with the Party of European Socialists
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
group, and is the leader of the Spanish delegation. As of January 2007 he is chair of the Committee on Development
Committee on Development
The Committee on Development is a standing committee of the European Parliament responsible for promoting, implementing and monitoring the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, notably talks with developing countries; aid to developing countries; and promotion of democratic...
.
In the presidential vote, out of 700 MEPs he received an absolute majority with 388 votes at the first ballot. The other two candidates were the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Liberal Bronisław Geremek (208 votes) and the French communist Francis Wurtz
Francis Wurtz
Francis Wurtz was a French Member of the European Parliament from 1979 till 2009. Elected in the Île-de-France constituency on the French Communist Party ticket, he sits with the European United Left - Nordic Green Left group, and is its current President...
(51 votes). As part of a deal with the conservative faction in the parliament, the EPP, he was succeeded as president of the parliament by the German conservative politician Hans-Gert Pöttering
Hans-Gert Pöttering
Hans-Gert Pöttering is a German conservative politician , and was the President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009...
in the second part of this term, which is from 2007 to June 2009.
Background
He was born and grew up in the village of La Pobla de Segur, where his father owned a small bakery. His very basic education was supplemented by reading, but he was able to complete his secondary education in LleidaLleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
. He went to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
to study industrial accounting, but left after a year in 1965 to go and study aeronautical engineering at the Technical University of Madrid
Technical University of Madrid
The Technical University of Madrid or sometimes called Polytechnic University of Madrid is a Spanish University, located in Madrid. It was founded in 1971 as the result of merging different Technical Schools of Engineering and Architecture, originated mainly in the 18th century...
(UPM), graduating in 1969. During this time he also began to study economic sciences at the Complutense University. In the summer of 1969 he stayed on a kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
in Israel, where he met his future French wife Carolina Mayeur, from whom he is now divorced. In 1975 he worked in Madrid as an engineer for the state petroleum company Campsa
CAMPSA
Campsa was the state-owned petroleum products company of Spain created during the 1920s. It was dissolved in 1992 due to the demands of the European Union. Its assets were distributed to the largest private petroleum companies in the Spanish market at the time, principally Repsol, Cepsa, and BP...
, joining PSOE in the same year even though it was an illegal party until February 1977. In 1979 he became a member of the Madrid Parliament until 1982 when the new PSOE government of Felipe González
Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.-Early life:Felipe was...
appointed him to a post within the Ministry of Economy with responsibility for fiscal policy. In 1986 he was elected to the Spanish Parliament representing Barcelona Province
Barcelona (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Barcelona is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. When first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election, Barcelona was the largest electoral district in Congress in terms of...
and remained an MP until 2004. In 1998 he ran against PSOE's General Secretary Joaquin Almunia
Joaquín Almunia
Joaquín Almunia Amann is a Spanish politician and prominent member of the European Commission, currently responsible for Competition under the second mandate of President Barroso. He was previously responsible for Economic and Monetary Affairs in Barroso's previous mandate...
in an primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
intended to determine who the party would nominate as its prime ministerial candidate in the 2000 General Elections, but due to internal pressures within the PSOE, Borrell resigned from candidacy in 1999.
He had to publicly deny rumors that he was a homosexual, while asserting his respect for homosexuals.
In 2004 Prime Minister and PSOE's General Secretary José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
proposed Borrell to lead the Socialist Ticket in the 2004 European Elections managing to win the elections by a narrow margin.
Since 1998, Borrell has been in a relationship with Cristina Narbona
Cristina Narbona
Cristina Narbona, born 29 July 1951, is a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politician. Since 18 April 2004, she has been the Minister of Environment in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. She is a trustee of the , Spain's Socialist Party's think tank.-Biography:Narbona was born in Madrid...
, ex-Environment Minister of Spain.
Criticism
On 28 September 2006, Josep Borrell argued that there are Nordic countriesNordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
which have not experienced the rigours of war, demonstrating a lack of knowledge in history. Two of the three Nordic countries which are in the EU were involved in conflict during World War II. Finland was attacked by the Soviet Union, while Denmark suffered from German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
occupation. Borrell was trying to defend the decision by the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
to acquire their premises in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, and pointed out that much of the opposition came from people in countries which supposedly had not experienced war. His remarks drew sharp criticism in papers throughout the Nordic countries. The Swedish language
Finland-Swedes
Swedish-speaking Finns constitute a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are alternatively seen either as a distinct subgroup of the Finnish people or as a separate ethnic group or even as a distinct nationality...
newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet
Hufvudstadsbladet
Hufvudstadsbladet is the highest-circulation Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters are located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "The Capital City Newspaper", hufvudstad being 19th century Swedish for capital...
in Finland offered an open invitation to Borrell to visit the graves of war victims in Finland, while Finnish MEPs called Borrell's knowledge about European history "embarrassing".
The next day, Borrell claimed he was only referring to Sweden, and apologized for offending people with his comments. This remark only served to worsen the criticism, with Danish, Norwegian and Finnish papers pointing out a lack of knowledge not only about history but also about geography, apparently ignoring the fact that Norway and Finland are generally considered Nordic countries.