Esteban González Pons | |
|---|---|
 González Pons in 2024 | |
| Member of the European Parliament forSpain | |
| Assumed office 16 July 2024 | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 17 August 2023 | |
| Succeeded by | Ana Collado Jiménez |
| Member of the Congress of Deputies | |
| In office 17 August 2023 – 15 July 2024 | |
| Constituency | Valencia |
| In office 1 April 2008 – 1 July 2014 | |
| Constituency | Valencia |
| Member of theCorts Valencianes | |
| In office 14 June 2007 – 1 April 2008 | |
| Constituency | Valencia |
| Member of the Senate | |
| In office 29 June 1993 – 20 June 2003 | |
| Constituency | Valencia |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1964-08-21)21 August 1964 (age 61) Valencia, Spain |
| Political party | People's Party |
| Other political affiliations | European People's Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Valencia |
| Occupation | Lawyer •Politician |
Esteban González Pons (Spanish pronunciation:[esˈteβaŋgonˈθaleθˈpons]; born 21 August 1964) is a Spanish politician of thePeople's Party (PP) who was amember of the European Parliament between 2014 and 2023. He was elected to the15th Congress of Deputies fromValencia in the2023 Spanish general election.[1] In July 2024 he returned to theEuropean Parliament as vicepresident[2]
Born inValencia,[3] González Pons is married and has three children.[4] He gained a doctorate in law and constitutional rights atUniversity of Valencia and practised as a chess player.
González Pons entered politics in 1993 serving assenator for Valencia province, in the process becoming the youngest member of the senate. He continued in that role until 2003, resigning after being chosen as minister of culture, education and sport in theValencian regional parliament. He served as the PP spokesman from 2007 until 2008 when he was elected to theSpanish Congress of Deputies representingValencia region. He headed the PP list for that election, virtually guaranteeing his election in a district where the PP and predecessors had won at least one seat at every election in the modern Spanish democratic era.
In early 2014, the PP chose González Pons to be party’s number 2 for theEuropean elections, followingMiguel Arias Cañete. AsMember of the European Parliament, he has since been serving on theCommittee on Budgets and theCommittee on Constitutional Affairs.
González Pons is also a member of the parliament’s delegations for relations withIsrael and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean. In addition to his committee assignments, he is a member of theEuropean Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights;[5] the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights;[6] the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs;[7] and the European Parliament Intergroup on Sports.[8]
When Arias Cañete was nominated asEuropean Commissioner in late 2014, González Pons took over as leader of the Spanish delegation in theEPP Group.[9] In addition, he has been serving as co-chair of theEPP Justice and Home Affairs Ministers Meeting, alongsideThomas de Maizière (until 2018),Kai Mykkänen (2018–2019) andPieter De Crem (2019–2020) andAnnelies Verlinden (since 2020).[10] He also chaired the EPP’s working group onBrexit.[11]
Following the2019 elections, González Pons was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's four-year work program on the rule of law, borders and migration.[12]
Within the EPP group, González Pons is one of the deputies of chairmanManfred Weber.[13] In 2021, he was appointed to the group's task force for proposing changes to its rules of procedure to allow for “the possibility of the collective termination of membership of a group of Members rather than just individual membership”, alongsideEsther de Lange,Othmar Karas,Jan Olbrycht andPaulo Rangel.[14]
Following Brexit, González Pons joinedManfred Weber,David McAllister andSandra Kalniete in co-signing a letter toDavid Sassoli, thepresident of the European Parliament, to establish an EU–UK Joint Parliamentary Assembly.[15]
In a joint letter with 15 other MEPs from various political groups, González Pons urged theHigh Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,Josep Borrell, in early 2021 to replace Alberto Navarro, the European Union's ambassador toCuba,[16] for allegedly siding with the country's Communist leadership.[17]
  Currentmembers of the European Parliament from Spain (2019–2024) | |
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| List of members of theEuropean People's Party group (2019–2024) | |
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