He has been one of therevolving door cases at the EU, which received the most media attention because only two months after the cooling off period, Barroso accepted a position as "senior adviser" and "non-executive chairman" ofGoldman Sachs International[2] and became subject of an ethics inquiry.
Barroso became politically active in his late teens, during theEstado Novo regime in Portugal, before theCarnation Revolution of 25 April 1974. In his university days, he was one of the leaders of the undergroundMaoist MRPP (Re-Organized Movement of the Proletariat Party, laterPortuguese Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP), Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers/Revolutionary Movement of the Portuguese Proletariat).[5][6][7] In an interview with the newspaperExpresso, he said that he had joined MRPP to fight the only other student body movement, also underground, which was controlled by thePortuguese 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 asPREC, criticises the bourgeoiseducation system which "throws students against workers and workers against students."[8] Barosso was also one of the founders of the Portuguese University Association for European Studies (AUROP) in 1979. His political career formally began when he joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in 1980, which marked his shift from academic to national politics. He was appointed to his first government role in 1985.[9][10]
His academic career began as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. Barroso didPhD research atGeorgetown University and Georgetown'sEdmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service inWashington, D.C., but his CV does not list any doctoral degree (except honorary).[11] Back inLisbon, Barroso became director of the Department for International Relations at Lusíada University (Universidade Lusíada).
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.[citation needed]
In 1985, under the PSD government ofAníbal Cavaco Silva,prime minister 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 theBicesse Accords of 1990, which led to a temporary armistice in theAngolan Civil War between the rulingMPLA and the oppositionUNITA. He also supported independence forEast Timor, a former Portuguese colony, then a province ofIndonesia by force. In 1992, Barroso was promoted to the post ofMinister of Foreign Affairs, and served in this capacity until the defeat of the PSD in the 1995 general election.
In 1995, while in opposition, Barroso was elected to theAssembly of the Republic as a representative for Lisbon. He became chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In 1998 he graduated from theGeorgetown Leadership Seminar.[12] In 1999 he was elected president of the PSD, succeedingMarcelo 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 acoalition government with the right-wing PortuguesePeople'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.[citation needed]
Barroso did not finish his term as he had been nominated aspresident of the European Commission on 5 July 2004. Barroso arranged with Portuguese PresidentJorge Sampaio to nominatePedro 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%,[15] which it used to criticise Barroso's and Santana Lopes's economic policies.
The "three European presidents",Jerzy Buzek (Parliament), José Manuel Barroso (Commission) andHerman Van Rompuy (European Council) during a press conference in 2011Headquarters of theEuropean Commission inBrussels.Barroso with French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy inParis, July 2008Barroso with President of the European CouncilHerman Van Rompuy and U.S. PresidentBarack Obama in Washington, D.C., November 2011Barroso with President of the European CouncilHerman Van Rompuy and Russian PresidentVladimir Putin in Yekaterinburg, June 2013Barroso with Serbian Prime MinisterIvica Dačić in Brussels, June 2013Barroso with Polish Prime MinisterDonald Tusk in Warsaw, May 2014
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 theEuropean Council on 17 June 2009. On 3 September 2009, Barroso unveiled his manifesto for his second term.[17] On 16 September 2009, Barroso was re-elected by the European Parliament for another five years.[18][19][20] Since he completed his second term he became only the second Commission president to serve two terms, afterJacques Delors. That Commission's term of office ran until 31 October 2014.[21]
On 12 September 2012, Barroso called for the EU to evolve into a "federation of nation-states", necessary to combat the continent's economic crisis. He said he believed Greece would be able to stay in the eurozone if it stood by its commitments. Barroso also heralded the legislative proposal published the same day forEuropean Banking Supervision.[25]
In 2005,Die Welt reported that Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaireSpiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterward 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.[27] In response to this revelation,Nigel Farage MEP of theUK 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 theEuropean Parliament to be questioned on the matter.[28] The motion was tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament as required at a debate on 26 May 2005.[29] The motion itself was heavily defeated.
In response to criticism for his choice of a less fuel efficientVolkswagen Touareg, amid EU legislation of targets drastically to reduce car CO2 emissions, Barroso dismissed this as "overzealous moralism".[30]
In April 2008, amid sharp food price rises and mountingfood vs fuel concerns, Barroso insisted thatbiofuel use was "not significant" in pushing upfood prices.[31] The following month, he announced a study that would look into the issue.[32] 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.
Barroso has expressed criticism of national governments arguing "Decisions taken by the most democratic institutions in the world are very often wrong."[33]
In December 2013 Barroso said that Europe was not the cause of the problems for Ireland; Ireland caused a problem for Europe. Following the bailout exit, in December 2013, the Irish government's bid to get backdated funding for the banking sector was rejected as the head of the European Commission blamed the Irish banks, regulators, and government for the difficulties in the country. Barroso said the problems in the Irish banks caused a "major destabilisation" in the euro, rather than structural problems with the currency itself, "I am saying this because it would be wrong to give the impression that Europe has created a problem for Ireland and now Europe has to help Ireland. In fact, it was the banking sector in Ireland—it was one of the biggest problems in the world in terms of banking stability what happened in Ireland."[34]
Barroso is a policy fellow at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University[35] and the Frederick H. Schultz Class of 1951 Visiting Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International AffairsWoodrow Wilson School, where he teaches withWolfgang F. Danspeckgruber on the EU in International Affairs.
In July 2016, Barroso became senior adviser and non-executive chairman and senior adviser of London-basedGoldman Sachs International (GSI), the bank's largest subsidiary.[42][43][44] At the time of his appointments, this was regarded as quite controversial, and later led Barroso's successorJean-Claude Juncker to launch an ethics investigation.[citation needed] Barroso was heavily criticised for taking the position only two months after the 18-month "cooling-off" period for EU officials after they leave their posts. Barroso's move was especially sensitive because Goldman Sachs played a questionable role in the2008 financial crisis that nearly broke the euro. Furthermore, Barroso announced his move to the London-based subsidiary of Goldman Sachs shortly after theBrexit referendum. The European Commission agreed to an unprecedented ethics inquiry into the move. The independent panel concluded there were "not sufficient grounds to establish a violation of the duty of integrity and discretion" and accepted Barroso's assurances that he would not be lobbying on behalf of the bank's clients.[45]
In 1980, he married Maria Margarida Pinto Ribeiro de Sousa Uva, with whom he has three sons. Sousa Uva died fromuterine cancer in August 2016, at the age of 60.
Apart from Portuguese, Barroso is fluent in French,[59] speaks Spanish and English and has taken a course to acquire a basic knowledge of German.[60]
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
1 =President. 2 =Vice President. 3 = Served from 1 January 2007. 4 = Vassiliou replaced Kyprianou on 3 March 2008. 5 = Tajani replaced Frattini on 18 June 2008. 6 = Ashton replaced Mandelson on 3 October 2008. 7 = Šemeta replaced Grybauskaitė on 1 July 2009. 8 = Samecki replaced Hübner on 4 July 2009. 9 = De Gucht replaced Michel on 17 July 2009. 10 = Šefčovič replaced Figeľ on 1 October 2009.
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