Notes to editors

José Manuel Barroso – biographical notes

José Manuel Durão Barroso, born in Lisbon, 1956. 

Graduated in Law (Licenciatura) and obtained a Master in Law from the University of Lisbon. Master in Economic and Social Sciences / Political Science from the University of Geneva. He also has a Post-graduate Diploma in European Studies from the University Institute of European Studies in Geneva. Currently, he is a Visiting Professor at Universidade Catolica Portuguesa and Director of the Center for European Studies at its Institute for Political Studies. He is also a Visiting Professor at Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and teaches at the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute in Florence. He is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Princeton School of Public Policy, Princeton University.

He has several books and articles published in academic journals on Political Science and International Relations and was the founder and first editor of Revista de Ciência Politica. Earlier in his career, he was a teaching assistant at the Universities of Lisbon and Geneva and a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Georgetown (Washington, DC), Princeton and Geneva. 

He was elected member of the Portuguese Parliament (Assembleia da República) several times since 1985 and served as Chairman of its Committee on Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. He was successively State Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Administration, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation and Minister for Foreign Affairs. 

Whilst at Foreign Affairs, he became mediator of the peace process for Angola (Bicesse Accords) and he was one of the initiators, under the auspices of the Secretary General of the United Nations, of the negotiations at the level of Foreign Ministers between Portugal and Indonesia, which would lead to the referendum for East Timor's independence. He also promoted political and diplomatic initiatives with Brazil and the Portuguese Speaking African countries (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Sao Tomé and Príncipe) that were at the origin of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries. As Foreign Minister he was also responsible for negotiations with the People's Republic of China regarding the transfer of Macau, as a Special Administrative Region, to Chinese sovereignty. 

He was President of the PSD, Social Democratic Party, between 1999 and 2004 and Vice President of the European People's Party. 

Whilst Prime Minister of Portugal he was invited by his European peers to be a candidate to the leadership of the European Commission and he was elected by the European Parliament for two terms as President of the European Commission. In these functions, he committed special efforts to the enlargement and the incorporation of new members in the European Union which, between 2004 and 2014, went from 15 to 28 member states. Within the framework of the policy to combat climate change he launched the legislative package known as 20/20/20 for decarbonization. 

He was at the centre of initiatives taken for the signature and ratification of the new European Union Treaties ("Lisbon Treaty"), and also of the European Commission's response to the post-2007 global financial crisis, namely with the Banking Union proposals and European legislation to regulate the financial sector. At the initiative of his Commission, the Financial Perspectives (multiannual budget) for 2014/2020, included the Horizon 2020 program to finance scientific research at European level. He was at the origin of the creation of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (2007) and of the EIT, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (2008). He represented the EU at the G8/G7 summits, at Head of State/Head of Government level, between 2005 and 2014, and he co-hosted the 2014 G7 Summit in Brussels. He also represented the EU in the first G20 Summit (Washington, DC, 2008) and all the following ones until 2013. 

He received the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize, on behalf of the EU, having delivered the acceptance speech in Oslo, together with his European Council counterpart. 

He has received numerous honorary distinctions from countries around the world. Among these, there are 35 decorations, among which the ones from Portugal (Great Cross of the Military Order of Christ and Grand Collar of the Order of Infante D. Henrique), Brazil (Great Cross of the National Order of the Cruzeiro and Great Cross of the Order of Rio Branco), Spain (Great Cross of the Order of Civil Merit and Great Cross of the Royal and Distinguished Order of Carlos III), Germany (Great Cross of the Order of Merit), France (Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor), United Kingdom (Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael).

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