# Josep Borrell
**Josep Borrell Fontelles** (born 1947 in La Pobla de Segur, Lleida) is a Spanish politician of the [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party](https://www.edgepedia.org/spanish-socialist-workers-party) (PSOE) who served as [High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy](https://www.edgepedia.org/high-representative-of-the-union-for-foreign-affairs-and-security-policy) and Vice-[President of the European Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/president-of-the-european-commission) (HR/VP) from December 2019 to 2024[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles) • [2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670). Before that he was President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007, a Spanish cabinet minister in the 1980s and 1990s, and Spain's foreign minister in 2018–2019[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 in La Pobla de Segur (Lleida, Spain)[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles) |
| Education | Aeronautical engineer; doctorate in economics (Complutense University of Madrid); master's in energy economics (French Oil Institute, Paris); master's in operations research (Stanford University)[3](https://www.eui.eu/Documents/ServicesAdmin/CommunicationsService/CorporatePublications/EUIPublications/EUIReview/EUIReviewSpring2009.pdf) |
| Spanish government posts | Secretary-General for the Budget 1982–1984; State Secretary for Finance 1984–1991; Minister for Public Works, Transport, the Environment and Telecommunications 1991–1996; Minister of Foreign Affairs, the EU and Cooperation from June 2018[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles) |
| European Parliament | Elected President on 20 July 2004, serving to January 2007; chaired the Development Committee in the second half of the 2004–2009 term[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles) |
| HR/VP | High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, December 2019 to 2024; appointed by European Council decision until 31 October 2024[4](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2024/2086/oj/eng) |
| Successor | Kaja Kallas, appointed by the European Council on 27 June 2024 and in office from 1 December 2024[5](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/28/estonian-kaja-kallas-named-next-european-foreign-minister_6676007_4.html) • [6](https://exteriores.gob.es/en/PoliticaExterior/Paginas/PoliticaExteriorSeguridadComunUE.aspx) |
## Early career and Spanish government
Borrell's political career began in the PSOE in the 1970s, and he is closely associated with Spain's transition to democracy[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670). Under the first Felipe González government he was Secretary-General for the Budget from 1982 to 1984 and then State Secretary for Finance from 1984 to 1991[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles). He served as Minister for Public Works, Transport, the [Environment](https://www.edgepedia.org/environment) and [Telecommunications](https://www.edgepedia.org/telecommunications) from 1991 to 1996[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles).
He sat in the Congress of Deputies for Barcelona from 1986 to 2004 and chaired the parliamentary Committee on European Affairs from 1999[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles). From 2002 to 2003 he represented the Spanish Parliament in the Convention on the Future of Europe, which drafted the European Constitution project[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles). In 1998 he won the Socialist primary to stand as the party's candidate for the presidency of the Spanish government[7](https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/gabinete/paginas/20180608borrell.aspx).
## President of the European Parliament
Elected to the [European Parliament](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-parliament) in 2004, Borrell was elected its President on 20 July 2004 and served until January 2007, when the German conservative Hans-Gert Pöttering replaced him[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles) • [8](https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/josep-borrell-i-fontelles). His presidency spanned the enlargement of 2004, when Parliament grew to 732 members from 25 countries, and the accession of Romania and Bulgaria on 1 January 2007, which brought it to 785 members[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles).
A defining moment was the confirmation process of the Barroso Commission in late 2004, when Parliament's hearings led the incoming Commission to withdraw rather than face certain rejection; Borrell described this as the point when Parliament stopped being seen as a "cage of crickets"[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles). During the same term Parliament rejected the software patents directive at second reading under the codecision procedure, and substantially modified the Bolkestein directive liberalizing services[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles). He also chaired the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly and was briefly co-President of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly[7](https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/gabinete/paginas/20180608borrell.aspx).
## Between the Parliament and the EU executive
In December 2008 the High Council of the European University Institute elected Borrell as its president for a five-year term beginning on 1 January 2010[3](https://www.eui.eu/Documents/ServicesAdmin/CommunicationsService/CorporatePublications/EUIPublications/EUIReview/EUIReviewSpring2009.pdf), and he held the post until 2012[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles). He then returned to teaching, resuming a professorship in economic science at the Complutense University of Madrid, where he held a Jean Monnet Chair on European economic integration[7](https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/gabinete/paginas/20180608borrell.aspx).
In June 2018, after the motion of censure that removed [Mariano Rajoy](https://www.edgepedia.org/mariano-rajoy)'s government, [Pedro Sánchez](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedro-sanchez) offered Borrell the foreign ministry, and he accepted[9](https://elpais.com/politica/2018/06/04/actualidad/1528126438_458260.html). He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and [Cooperation](https://www.edgepedia.org/cooperation) from 2018 to 2019[1](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles).
## High Representative (2019–2024)
**The role and its constraints.** The HR/VP conducts the EU's common foreign and security policy, presides over the Foreign Affairs Council, and heads the [European External Action Service](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-external-action-service), the EU's diplomatic service[6](https://exteriores.gob.es/en/PoliticaExterior/Paginas/PoliticaExteriorSeguridadComunUE.aspx) • [10](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/high-representative-foreign-affairs-security-policy/). Borrell took office in December 2019[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670). A 2024 assessment by Amelia Hadfield, Director of the Centre for Britain and Europe at the [University of Surrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-surrey), concludes that his tenure involved both tacit and active contributions, from moderate efforts to advance Commission President von der Leyen's 2019 "Geopolitical Commission" agenda during Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic to a successful alignment of energy policy with EU foreign policy and a unified response to the invasion of Ukraine[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670).
The role placed him alongside a Commission president who regarded herself as a major foreign-policy actor, a combination that analysts noted diminished the office's distinct standing[11](https://carnegieendowment.org/europe/strategic-europe/2024/06/europes-new-leadership-faces-a-teamwork-test). Relations between Borrell and von der Leyen were difficult from the start of the mandate, and tensions between the two over who set the EU's foreign-policy line ran through the term[5](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/28/estonian-kaja-kallas-named-next-european-foreign-minister_6676007_4.html) • [2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670).
**Security and defense.** Borrell championed the Strategic Compass, a document intended to assess the threats and challenges the EU faces and to provide operational guidelines for the Union to become a security provider for its citizens, protecting its values and interests[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670).
**Energy and Russia.** After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the [REPowerEU](https://www.edgepedia.org/repowereu) plan, largely designed by the Commission but socialized and championed by Borrell, made energy security an explicit component of EU foreign policy and a central part of the response to Moscow; the assessment treats it as Borrell's chief instrument for constructing the first principles of EU strategic autonomy in energy[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670).
**Middle East.** In 2022 Borrell presided over the relaunch of high-level political discussions with the Israeli government, then led by [Yair Lapid](https://www.edgepedia.org/yair-lapid), and in September 2023 he gathered some 50 European and Arab foreign ministers at the [United Nations General Assembly](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-nations-general-assembly) to discuss ways of supporting a possible future Israeli–Palestinian peace agreement[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/05/war-in-gaza-the-eu-s-diplomatic-failure_6673792_4.html). After October 2023 the EU's response was fragmented, and criticism included accusations of double standards in comparing the Union's stance on Ukraine with its conduct on Gaza[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/05/war-in-gaza-the-eu-s-diplomatic-failure_6673792_4.html).
**Controversies.** His tenure included remarks that drew official criticism: a claim that Americans had "killed four Indians" before independence, which drew criticism from United States indigenous rights groups, and a description of the US approach to Venezuela as "cowboy" diplomacy, which drew criticism from the United States[2](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670).
## Later activity
Borrell's term as HR/VP was formally appointed to run until 31 October 2024 by [European Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/european-council) decision, and Kaja Kallas took over the post on 1 December 2024[4](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2024/2086/oj/eng) • [6](https://exteriores.gob.es/en/PoliticaExterior/Paginas/PoliticaExteriorSeguridadComunUE.aspx). Since leaving office he has remained an active public voice on EU foreign policy, including criticism of the Union's response to the war in Gaza[13](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/kaja-kallas/).
## References
1. [Josep Borrell Fontelles, European Parliament Historical Archives](https://historicalarchives.europarl.europa.eu/en/presidents/josep-borrell-fontelles)
2. [Amelia Hadfield (2024). More or Less Borrell? A Critical Analysis of Josep Borrell as the European Union's High Representative. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies.](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcms.13670)
3. [EUI Review, Spring 2009: Josep Borrell appointed new EUI Principal](https://www.eui.eu/Documents/ServicesAdmin/CommunicationsService/CorporatePublications/EUIPublications/EUIReview/EUIReviewSpring2009.pdf)
4. [European Council Decision (EU) 2024/2086, EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2024/2086/oj/eng)
5. [Estonian Kaja Kallas to head EU foreign policy, Le Monde (28 June 2024)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/28/estonian-kaja-kallas-named-next-european-foreign-minister_6676007_4.html)
6. [The European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs](https://exteriores.gob.es/en/PoliticaExterior/Paginas/PoliticaExteriorSeguridadComunUE.aspx)
7. [Josep Borrell Fontelles, La Moncloa biography](https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/gabinete/paginas/20180608borrell.aspx)
8. [Josep Borrell i Fontelles, enciclopedia.cat](https://www.enciclopedia.cat/gran-enciclopedia-catalana/josep-borrell-i-fontelles)
9. [Josep Borrell será ministro de Exteriores del Gobierno de Sánchez, El País (5 June 2018)](https://elpais.com/politica/2018/06/04/actualidad/1528126438_458260.html)
10. [EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Council of the EU](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/high-representative-foreign-affairs-security-policy/)
11. [Stefan Lehne (2024). Europe's New Leadership Faces a Teamwork Test, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace](https://carnegieendowment.org/europe/strategic-europe/2024/06/europes-new-leadership-faces-a-teamwork-test)
12. [War in Gaza: The European Union's diplomatic failure, Le Monde (5 June 2024)](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/06/05/war-in-gaza-the-eu-s-diplomatic-failure_6673792_4.html)
13. [Is EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in the right job after all?, Responsible Statecraft](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/kaja-kallas/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › International relations › Ambassadors, consuls, and envoys › Diplomat biographies › Diplomats of other European states*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license