José Manuel Barroso

José Manuel Barroso
President of the European Commission
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 November 2004
Vice President	Margot Wallström Catherine Ashton
Preceded by	Romano Prodi
Prime Minister of Portugal Elections: 1999, 2002
In office 6 April 2002 – 17 July 2004
President	Jorge Sampaio
Preceded by	António Guterres
Succeeded by	Pedro Santana Lopes
Personal details
Born	23 March 1956 (1956-03-23) (age 55) Lisbon, Portugal
Political party	Social Democratic Party (1976–present)
Other political affiliations	Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (Before 1976)
Spouse(s)	Maria Sousa Uva
Children	Luís Guilherme Francisco
Residence	Brussels, Belgium
Alma mater	University of Lisbon European University Institute University of Geneva
Profession	Lawyer Professor
Signature
Website	Official website

José Manuel Durão Barroso (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒuˈzɛ mɐnuˈɛɫ duˈɾɐ̃w bɐˈʁozu]; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician. He is President of the European Commission, since 23 November 2004. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 6 April 2002 to 17 July 2004.

Academic career

Durão Barroso (as he is known in Portugal) graduated in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon and has an MSc in Economic and Social Sciences from the University of Geneva (Institut Européen de l'Université de Genève) in Switzerland. His academic career continued as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. He did research for a PhD at Georgetown University and Georgetown's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. but his CV does not list any doctoral degree (except honorary).^[1] He is a 1998 graduate of the Georgetown Leadership Seminar.^[2] Back in Lisbon, Barroso became Director of the Department for International Relations at Lusíada University (Universidade Lusíada). He received honorary degrees from many Universities listed under honorary degrees.

Early political career

Barroso's political activity began in his late teens, during the Estado Novo regime in Portugal, before the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974. In his college days, he was one of the leaders of the underground Maoist MRPP (Reorganising Movement of the Proletariat Party, later PCTP/MRPP, Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers/Revolutionary Movement of the Portuguese Proletariat). In an interview with the newspaper Expresso, he said that he had joined MRPP to fight the only other student body movement, also underground, which was controlled by the Portuguese Communist Party. Despite this justification there is a very famous political 1976 interview recorded by the Portuguese state-run television channel — RTP, in which Barroso, as a politically minded student during the post-Carnation Revolution turmoil known as PREC, criticises the bourgeois education system which "throws students against workers and workers against students", showing clear left-wing and Maoist inclinations.^[3] In December 1980, Barroso joined the right-of-centre PPD (Democratic Popular Party, later PPD/PSD-Social Democratic Party), where he remains to the present day.

In 1985, under the PSD government of Aníbal Cavaco Silva (now President of Portugal), Barroso was named Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. In 1987 he became a member of the same government as he was elevated to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (answering to the Minister of Foreign Affairs), a post he was to hold for the next five years. In this capacity he was the driving force behind the Bicesse Accords of 1990, which led to a temporary armistice in the Angolan Civil War between the ruling MPLA and the opposition UNITA. He also supported independence for East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, then a province of Indonesia by force. In 1992, Barroso was promoted to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and served in this capacity until the defeat of the PSD in the 1995 general election.

Prime Minister of Portugal

In opposition, Barroso was elected to the Assembly of the Republic in 1995 as a representative for Lisbon. There, he became chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In 1999 he was elected president of his political party, PSD, succeeding Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (a professor of law), and thus became Leader of the Opposition. Parliamentary elections in 2002 gave the PSD enough seats to form a coalition government with the right-wing Portuguese People's Party, and Barroso subsequently became Prime Minister of Portugal on 6 April 2002. As Prime Minister, facing a growing budget deficit, he made a number of difficult decisions and adopted strict reforms. He vowed to reduce public expenditure, which made him unpopular among leftists and public servants.^{[citation needed]}. His purpose was to lower the public budget deficit to a 3% target (according to the demands of EU rules), and official data during the 2002–2004 period stated that the target was being attained. Barroso did not finish his term as he had been nominated as President of the European Commission on 5 July 2004. Barroso arranged with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio to nominate Pedro Santana Lopes as a substitute Prime Minister of Portugal. Santana Lopes led the PSD/PP coalition for a few months until early 2005, when new elections were called. When the Portuguese Socialist Party won the elections it produced an estimation that by the end of the year the budget deficit would reach 6.1%,^[4] which it used to criticise Barroso's and Santana Lopes's economic policies.

In 2003, Barroso hosted U.S President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar in the Portuguese island of Terceira, in the Azores. The four leaders finalised the controversial US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. Under Barroso's leadership, Portugal became part of the "coalition of the willing" for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, sending non-combat troops.^{[citation needed]}

President of the European Commission

In 2004, the proposed European Constitution and now the Treaty of Lisbon included a provision that the choice of President must take into account the result of Parliamentary elections and the candidate supported by the victorious Europarty in particular. That provision was not in force in the nomination in 2004, but the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), who won the elections, pressured for a candidate from its own ranks. In the end, José Manuel Barroso, the EPP candidate, was chosen by the European Council.^[5]

On the same basis, the EPP again endorsed Barroso for a second term during the 2009 European election campaign and, after the EPP again won the elections, was able to secure his nomination by the European Council on 17 June 2009. On 3 September 2009, Barroso unveiled his manifesto for his second term.^[6] On 16 September 2009, Barroso was re-elected by the European Parliament for another five years.^[7][8][9] If he completes his second term he will become only the second Commission president to serve two terms, after Jacques Delors.

During his first presidency, the following important issues were on the Commission's agenda:

• Turkey applying for EU membership
• The reform of the institutions (Treaty of Lisbon)
• The Bolkestein directive, aimed at creating a single market for services within the EU
• Lisbon Strategy
• Galileo positioning system
• Doha Development Agenda negotiations
• European Institute of Innovation and Technology
• An EU climate change package

One of his first tasks since being re-elected was a visit to Ireland to persuade Irish citizens to approve the Treaty of Lisbon in the country's second referendum due to be held the following month.^[10] Barroso was greeted by Irish Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea and Peter Power, the Minister of State (with special responsibility for Overseas Development), as he got off his plane at Shannon Airport on the morning of 19 September 2009 before briefly meeting with the joint committee of the Oireachtas and meeting and greeting people at functions in Limerick's City Hall, University of Limerick (UL) and the Savoy Hotel.^[10] He told The Irish Times in an interview referenced internationally by Reuters that he had been asked if Ireland would split from the European Union.^[11] He also launched a €14.8 million grant for former workers at Dell's Limerick plant, described as "conveniently opportune" by former Member of the European Parliament and anti-Lisbonite Patricia McKenna.^[12]

Controversies

In 2005 Die Welt reported that Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred only a month before the Commission approved 10 million euros of Greek state aid for Latsis's shipping company – though the state aid decision had been taken by the previous European Commission before Barroso took up his post.^[13] In response to this revelation, Nigel Farage MEP of the UK Independence Party persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political spectrum to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, so as to compel him to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the matter.^[14] The motion was tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament as required at a debate on 26 May 2005.^[15] The motion itself was heavily defeated.

In response to criticism for his choice of a less fuel efficient Volkswagen Touareg, amid EU legislation of targets drastically to reduce car CO₂ emissions, Barroso dismissed this as "overzealous moralism".^[16]

In April 2008, amid sharp food price rises and mounting food vs fuel concerns, Barroso insisted that biofuel use was "not significant" in pushing up food prices.^[17] The following month, he announced a study that would look into the issue.^[18] The backdoor approval of the GE potato, by President Barroso, has met a wave of strong opposition from EU member-states. The governments of Greece, Austria, Luxembourg, Italy, Hungary and France have all publicly announced that they will not allow the GE potato to be grown in their countries.

Personal life

José Manuel Durão Barroso is the son of Luís António Saraiva Barroso and his wife Maria Elisabete de Freitas Durão. In 1980 he married Maria Margarida Pinto Ribeiro de Sousa Uva, with whom he has three sons: Luís, Guilherme, and Francisco de Sousa Uva Durão Barroso.^{[citation needed]}

Apart from Portuguese, Barroso is fluent in French,^[19] speaks Spanish and English and has taken a course to acquire a basic knowledge of German.^[20]

Honours

Barroso holds over twenty decorations, including ^[21].

• Portugal's Gra-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Cristo in 1996;
• Winner of the Casa da Imprensa prize in the area of politics in 1992
• Named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 1993
• Chosen Personality of the Year in 1991 and 2004 by the Foreign Press Association in Portugal
• Given “Medalla de la Universidad de Alcala de Henares” and “Medalla de Oro de la Ciudad de Zamora”, Spain, 2005
• Golden Medal: The Bell Celebration – Message to the United Europe, from the Ferdinan Martinengo Company, Slovakia, 2006
• EFR-Business Week Award from Erasmus University Rotterdam, 2006.
• Honorary Citizen of Rio de Janeiro, June 2006.
• "European of the Year" award by European Voice newspaper, November 2006.
• Awarded Honorary HEC diploma, Paris, December 2006.
• Special Prize, Business Centre Club, Poland, February 2007; Gold Medal of the city of Lamego, Portugal, April 2007;
• Transatlantic Leadership Prize, European Institute, Washington DC, April 2007;
• Honorary Citizen of Delphi and Golden Medal of the "Amfiktyons", Delphi, Greece, July 2007;
• Academic Title EBAPE – FGV, for the relevant contribution and services towards the study and practice in Administration - Getulio Vargas Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, August 2007
• Conde de Barcelona International Prize from the Conde de Barcelona Foundation, Barcelona, November 2007.
• Honorary Medal and Honorary Diploma of the City of Nicosia, Nicosia, January 2008.
• Honorary Member, Academia Portuguesa da História, Lisbon, March 2008.
• State Medal "Stara Planina" I Degree, Bulgaria , March 2008.
• "Prémio Rotary da Paz", Rotary International Distrito 1960 Portugal, Lisbon, April 2008; "Chave de Honra da Cidade de Lisboa", Lisbon, May 2008.
• Confraria Queijo S. Jorge, Acores, May 2008.
• Ciudadino Andino Honorifico, Lima, Peru, May 2008.
• "Transatlantic Business Award", American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, Brussels, May 2008.
• Confraria vinho do Porto, Porto, June 2008.
• Orden de la Cruz de Terra Mariana, Primera clase, Tallinn, February 2009.
• Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of European Studies, Royal Institute of European Studies Madrid, March 2009.
• Gold Medal of the Hellenic Parliament, Athens, April 2009.
• Medal of Honour and Benefaction of the City of Athens, Athens, April 2009.
• European Excellence Award, by the Government Council of the Community of Madrid, May 2009.
• Prix European of the Year, The European Movement in Denmark, Copenhagen, May 2009.
• Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great, Vilnius, June 2009.
• Laureate of the Quadriga Prize 2009 - United for the Better, Berlin, October 2009
• Collar of the Order "pro Merito Melitensi", the Order of Malta, Rome, May 2010.
• Medal of Merit from the Federação das Associações Portuguesas e Luso-brasileiras, Brazil, July 2010.
• "Man of the Year 2009 of Central and Eastern Europe", Krynica, September 2010.
• Great Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste, Brussels, October 2010.
• Golden Victoria "European of the Year 2010" award by the Union of German Magazine Publishers VDZ, Berlin, November 2010.
• Collar of the European Merit Foundation, Luxembourg, November 2010.
• the "Steiger" Award 2011, Bochum, Germany, March 2011.

Honorary Degrees

• Honorary Degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island, 2005
• Honorary Degree in Humanities from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• Honorary Degree in Political Science from the University of Genoa, Italy, 2006
• Honorary Degree in Law from Kobe University, Japan, April 2006.
• Honorary Doctorate in Social and Human Sciences from Candido Mendes University, Rio de Janeiro, June 2006.
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science, University of Edinburgh, November 2006.^[22]
• Honorary Degree from the Economics Faculty of the "La Sapienza" University of Rome, January 2007
• Honorary doctorate at Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, November 2007. ^[23]
• Doctor Honoris Causa degree at the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 2008.
• Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, University of Liverpool, July 2008; "Prémio Política e Responsabilidade Social", Fundação Luso-Brasileira, Lisbon, October 2008.
• Honorary Degree of Doctor, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, Nice, November 2008.
• Doctor Honoris Causa, Tomas Bata University, Zlin, Czech Republic, April 2009.
• Honorary doctorate of the Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, May 2009.^[24]
• Honorary doctorate of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, USA, September 2009.
• Doctor Honoris Causa, University Estácio de Sá, Rio de Janeiro, July 2010.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Łódź University, Poland, October 2010.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, University of Geneva, October 2010.
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, University of Bucharest, November 2010.
• Honorary Doctorate, Baku State University, Azerbaijan, January 2011.
• Honorary Doctorate, Luiss Guido Carli University, Rome, March 2011.
• Honorary Doctorate, Ghent University, March 2011.

See also

• EU law
• Law of Portugal

Notes

1. ^ José Manuel Barroso 2009 CV arcived on 21 May from the original
2. ^ GLS Reunion 2005
3. ^ Barroso as a young, passionate Maoist student leader in 1976, RTP (1976), youtube.com
4. ^ Portugal: ECONOMY Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State
5. ^ "Choosing a New EU Commission President". Deutsche Welle. 16 Jun. 2004. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1237192,00.html. Retrieved 27 Aug. 2007. 
6. ^ Ian Traynor in Brussels (3 Sep. 2009). "José Manuel Barroso unveils manifesto for second term". The Guardian (UK). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/03/jose-manuel-barroso-europe-vote. Retrieved 19 Sep. 2009. 
7. ^ David Charter in Strasbourg (17 Sep. 2009). "José Manuel Barroso wins second term as European Commission President". The Times (UK). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6837597.ece. Retrieved 19 Sep. 2009. 
8. ^ "PN MEPs welcome election of José Manuel Barroso". The Malta Independent. 17 Sep. 2009. http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=94191. Retrieved 19 Sep. 2009. 
9. ^ "EPP delighted with re-election of Barroso" European People's Party, 16 September 2009; accessed 29 November 2009
10. ^ ^{a b} "No vote will affect confidence – Barroso". RTÉ. 19 Sep. 2009. http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0919/eulisbon.html. Retrieved 19 Sep. 2009. 
11. ^ Carmel Crimmins (19 Sep. 2009). "EU's Barroso warns Ireland on commissioner right". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE58I0KE20090919. Retrieved 19 Sep. 2009. 
12. ^ "European grant for former Dell workers". RTÉ. 19 Sep. 2009. http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0919/dell.html. Retrieved 19 Sep. 2009. 
13. ^ Castle, Stephen (26 May 2005). "Barroso survives confidence debate over free holiday with Greek tycoon". The Independent (London). http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article223215.ece. Retrieved 8 Jun. 2009. 
14. ^ "Bloomberg.com". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aFq2hOeCcYZc&refer=europe. Retrieved 8 Jun. 2009. 
15. ^ "Europe | Barroso rebuffs yacht questions". BBC News. 25 May 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4578261.stm. Retrieved 8 Jun. 2009. 
16. ^ "Barroso bashed over gas guzzler". BBC News. 9 March 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6432995.stm. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
17. ^ Biofuels 'aggravating' food prices says Brown EUobserver, 10 April 2008
18. ^ Barroso orders study on biofuels/food link Transport & Environment, 14 May 2008
19. ^ Barroso pour une TVA réduite
20. ^ Barroso speaking French, Spanish, English and German Les vidéos du président Barroso, Commission européenne, Bruxelles
21. ^ CV with the list of decorations Offical CV at Europa.eu
22. ^ Honorary graduates | 2005/2006 University of Edinburgh
23. ^ Doktoraty Honoris Causa Warsaw School of Economics
24. ^ Ehrendoktorwürde: "José Manuel Barroso ist Mr. Europa" Informationsdienst Wissenschaft, 9 May 2009

External links

• President José Manuel Barroso – Official Media Gallery
• European Commission – President José Manuel Barroso
• tellBarroso.eu – a web service for telling Barroso: "What can Europe do for you?"

Assembly seats
Preceded by Title jointly held	Member of Parliament for Lisbon 1985–1987	Succeeded by Title jointly held
	Member of Parliament for Viseu 1987–1995
	Member of Parliament for Lisbon 1995–2004
Party political offices
Preceded by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa	President Social Democratic Party 1999–2004	Succeeded by Pedro Santana Lopes
Political offices
Preceded by António Guterres	Prime Minister of Portugal 2002–2004	Succeeded by Pedro Santana Lopes
Preceded by António Vitorino	Portuguese European Commissioner 2004–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Romano Prodi	President of the European Commission 2004–present
Academic offices
Preceded by Joschka Fischer	College of Europe Orateur 2004	Succeeded by Javier Solana

Persondata
Name	Durão Barroso, José Manuel
Alternative names	Barroso, José; Durão Barroso, José; Durão Barroso; Barroso, José Manuel
Short description	Former Prime Minister of Portugal, President of the European Commission
Date of birth	23 March 1956
Place of birth	Lisbon, Portugal
Date of death
Place of death