Vice-President of the European Commission. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy 

Josep Borrell Fontelles is a Spanish politician. He is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain between June 2018 and November 2019. Since the 1st of December 2019, he has held the position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, in the EU executive of Ursula von der Leyen. 

Borrell, aeronautical engineer and economist, entered politics in the 1970s as a militant of the PSOE during the Spanish Transition and held various senior positions during the governments of Felipe González, first within the Ministry of Economy and Finance as Secretary General of Budget and Public Expenditure (1982-1984) and Secretary of State for Finance (1984-1991); later he joined the Council of Ministers at the head of the Portfolio of Development and Transport. In the opposition after the general elections of 1996, Borrell unexpectedly became in 1998 the candidate chosen by the militancy of the PSOE to the presidency of the Government, a role he maintained until his resignation in 1999. Since then, focused on European politics, he has been a Member of the European Parliament for the period 2004–2009 and became President of the Chamber during the first half of the legislature. 

After a time retired from the political frontline, he returned to the Council of Ministers in June 2018, with his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the Government chaired by Pedro Sánchez.