Ana Palacio
Spain; former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain and international lawyer specializing in international and European Union law
Ana Palacio was the first woman to serve as Foreign Minister of Spain, from 2002-2004. She has held various relevant positions in the European Parliament – notably, she chaired the Legal Affairs and Internal Market Committee, the Justice and Home Affairs Committee and the Conference of the Committee Chairs, the most senior decision-making body on legislative policy and programs. She served as Head of the Spanish Delegation to the European Union’s Intergovernmental Conference and as a member of the Presidium of the Convention for the Future of Europe (2001-2003) in the debate and drafting of the European Constitution, as well as EU coordinator for the strategic integrated corridors known as the Trans-European Transport Network. Additionally, she was a member of the advisory panel on judicial appointments provided for in Article 255 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Nationally, she served on Spain’s Consejo de Estado (Council of State), and chaired the Joint Committee of the two Houses for European Affairs in the Spanish Parliament.
Ana Palacio’s internationalist vocation led her to hold the institutional position of Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group, as well as Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Among the positions she has held in major foundations and think tanks, her tenure as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Corporation of New York stands out. She is also a member of the Board and the Strategy Committee of the Atlantic Council and was the first non-American member of its Executive Committee. Ms. Palacio is a visiting professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and at the UM6P University, and she is a member of the governing bodies of several public and academic institutions. She is a regular speaker at international conferences and a contributor to different publications, including a monthly column for Project Syndicate, and a weekly column for El Mundo (Spain).
In the private sector, Ms. Palacio was a member of the Executive Committee and Senior VP for International Affairs of the nuclear energy leader AREVA. She currently sits on the corporate boards of Enagás, Ecoener, and Emissions Reduction Corp and is a member of the International Advisory Board of OCP Group.