Antonio López-Istúriz White
| Antonio López-Istúriz White MEP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Secretary-General of the European People's Party | |
|
Assumed office 5 March 2002 | |
| President | Joseph Daul |
| Preceded by | Alejandro Agag Longo |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
|
Assumed office 1 July 2004 | |
| Constituency | Spain |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Antonio López-Istúriz White 1 April 1970 Pamplona, Navarre, Spain |
| Political party |
 People's Party  European People's Party |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | CEU San Pablo University IESE Business School |
Antonio López-Istúriz White (born 1 April 1970) is a Spanish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Spain. He is a member of the People's Party, part of the European People's Party. He has served as the Secretary General of the European People's Party since March 2002.
As well as member of the executive committee of the Spanish People's Party, Executive Secretary of the Centrist Democrat International and Secretary Treasurer of the Centre for European Studies, the think-tank of the EPP.
First years and education
López-Istúriz was born in Pamplona, Navarre, to Spaniard father and American mother. Being still a child, his family moved to Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, where they still live.
During his youth, he went to Madrid to study law at the CEU San Pablo Catholic University, where he also received a degree in economic studies.
Besides Spanish, he speaks English, the language of his mother, French and Italian.
Political career
During his years as a college student, he began to involve in politics by becoming a member of Nuevas Generaciones (New Generations), the youth organization of the People’s Party.
Between 1996 and 1997 he worked as coordinator of the education and culture section of the People’s Party in the Autonomous Community of Madrid.
In 1997 he moved to Brussels to work as an assistant to the People’s Party delegation at the European Parliament until 1999, when he was called by then President of the Spanish Government José María Aznar to become his political assistant, due to which he stayed in Madrid for almost four years.
In 2002 he went back to Brussels as Secretary-General of the European People’s Party, succeeding another party fellow and former aide to Aznar: Alejandro Agag. Two years later he is elected on the lists of his party as MEP, keeping both offices up to this date (2018).
Member of the European Parliament
First term 2004-2009
In his first term as Member of the European Parliament he was a member of the Legal Affairs Committee and a substitute member of the Transport Committee, as well as a member of the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly, a substitute in the Foreign Affairs Committee and a substitute in the Delegation for relations with Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia - Montenegro (including Kosovo).
Among the main functions in the Legal Affairs Committee is that of the legal basis rapporteur for all the reports. In addition, during this stage, he undertook an arduous defense of the insularity of the Balearic Islands, tourism and peripheral regions with amendments to the budgets and parliamentary questions to the Council and the European Commission in relation to these matters. Likewise, he developed numerous activities for the defense of the rights of children and of future generations.
In this his first term, López-Istúriz, became the MEP who received more visit groups, including, among them, groups of disabled, university students, entrepreneurs, young people and retirees who were informed about the operation and importance of the European Institutions.
Second term 2009-2014
Re-elected Member of the European Parliament in 2009, he continued to work as a member of the Legal Affairs Committee and as a substitute in the Foreign and Transport Affairs Committee as well as a member of the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly, a substitute in the Subcommittee on Security and Defense and in the delegation for relations with the countries of South-East Europe and for relations with the United States.
Third term 2014-
In the 2014 elections he was re-elected for a third term until the European elections of 2019. He is currently a member of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, as well as a substitute in the Foreign Affairs Committee, subcommittee on Security and Defence, delegation to Relations with Israel, delegation for relations with the United States and the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly for the Union for the Mediterranean. He is also since 2014 President of the Parliamentary Group of Friends European Union-United Arab Emirates.
In the context of his recent parliamentary activity, López-Istúriz was rapporteur of the report on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on cableway installations, an alternative rapporteur for the report on EU-China relations and on reports for which the Parliament issues an opinion "Establish a new agreement for energy consumers" and "European Energy Security Strategy". In the area of interest and dedication to children's issues, he was the first signatory of the Written Declaration on Investing in Children that was approved on December 7, 2015 with 428 signatures of MEPs, a record number in the European Parliament.
European People's Party
Antonio López-Istúriz is the Secretary General of the European People's Party (EPP). He was elected to this position in 2002 at Estoril on an interim basis and confirmed at the 2004 Brussels Congress, being re-elected at the 2006 Rome, Bonn 2009 and Bucharest 2012 Congresses.
During the last statutory congress held on October 21 and 22, 2015 in Madrid, López-Istúriz was re-elected Secretary General for the fourth time in the presence of more than 3,000 participants, 750 delegations, 850 delegates, 14 heads of State and Government and eleven European commissioners. Among those attending the Congress were the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Prime Minister of Ireland, Enda Kenny or the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, as well as the presidents of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the European Council, Donald Tusk.
IDS-CDI
In 2002, under the leadership of the then President of the Government of Spain, José María Aznar, he was elected Executive Secretary of the International Democratic Center (IDC), which brings together 84 parties from 65 countries. Currently, he continues to hold this position with the confidence of the current President of the organization, the former President of Colombia, Andrés Pastrana.
López-Istúriz, from his position in the IDC, maintains his commitment to the defense of democracy and the denunciation of the violation of Human Rights, particularly in Cuba and Venezuela. The IDC regularly produces declarations and consensus documents, addressing the defense of Human Rights and the promotion of democracy at an international level.
Defense of children's rights
Antonio López-Istúriz White is a member of the Board of the ANAR Foundation. In its activity in favor of children, López-Istúriz was one of the promoters of coverage at the national level of the Helpline for Children and Adolescents in Spain. In addition, in 2015 he became "Champion of Children's Rights" for his work and commitment to the rights of children - http://www.childrightsmanifesto.eu/
Defense rights of the disabled and the elderly
Since 2000, he is a Vocal of the Board of Trustees of the AEQUITAS Foundation, an organization created by the General Council of the Spanish Notaries in order to provide free legal services to people who, be it for reasons of age or physical or mental illness, or for belonging to certain socially less favored groups, are in need of special protection. Within the scope of his parliamentary activity, he was rapporteur of the report on protection measures in civil matters, which addressed issues such as vulnerability in old age and measures to support the elderly and disabled.
Transatlantic relations
López-Istúriz has always been very interested in trans-Atlantic relationships, especially with the United States. As a member of the respective delegation in the European Parliament and also as Secretary-General of the European People’s Party, he travels frequently to that country and holds meetings with politicians and other civil society actors. López-Istúriz has shown political preference for the Republican Party, in fact endorsing Senator John McCain during the 2008 presidential elections campaign. Nevertheless, he has also met many democrat leaders and expressed his best wishes to Barack Obama after the elections.
Besides holding several meetings with McCain, who is also the president of the International Republican Institute, with which the EPP works, López-Istúriz has met with republicans such as Senator Marco Rubio and congressmen Paul Ryan, Chris Smith, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Díaz-Balart. Along with the latest two and with former congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart, he has developed initiatives and activities in favour of Cuban democracy, a subject in which he shows interest as well.
He has also met democrats such as congressman Albio Sires and congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the President of the Democratic National Committee, and also with some Obama advisors as Rick Holtzapple (Head of European Affairs of the White House), Mike Froman (Obama’s advisor for security affairs) and Miriam Sapiro (responsible of the government for commerce affairs).[1] In 2016, he attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to watch the nomination of Hillary Clinton.[2]
In a blog entry of September 2011, he commemorated the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, emphasizing the importance of US-EU cooperation and highlighting the work of the EPP in this affair.[3]
Other topics of intertest
Latin America
Another issue in which López-Istúriz has been active is that of the promotion of democracy in Cuba and Venezuela, as well as support for Cuban dissidence and Venezuelan opposition.
Self-employed workers
López-Istúriz has developed an intense activity in favor of the self-employed, especially the Spanish. He insists on the relevance of self-employed workers and entrepreneurs to generate growth and employment
Distinctions and awards
2014 - Commander of the Order of the Star (Italy)
2013 - Parliamentarian Prize - MEP of the Year - awarded by Spanish Parliamentarian Journalists Association
2002 - Officer of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins (Chile)
2000 - Recipient of the Order of the Star (Jordan)
References
External links
- Personal profile of Antonio López-Istúriz White in the European Parliament's database of members
- Declaration (PDF) of financial interests (in Spanish)