Alejandro Cercas Alonso (born 25 May 1949 in

Cáceres, Spain Cáceres ( , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Extremadura. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Cáceres. Cáceres lies at the feet of the Sierra de la Mosca, a modest hill range. It i ...

) is a Spanish politician who served as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 1999 until 2014. He is a member of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. ...

. Cercas began his political career in 1982 when he was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies, representing Caceres and was re-elected at the subsequent elections in 1986, 1989, 1993 and 1996.Biography at Spanish Congress site
/ref> In 2010 he signed the Manifesto of the

Spinelli Group The Spinelli Group is an initiative founded with a view to reinvigorate the endeavour for federalisation of the European Union (EU), by creating a network of citizens, think tanks, NGOs, academics, writers and politicians who support the idea o ...

positioning itself in favour of a

federal Europe The United States of Europe (USE), the European State, the European Federation and Federal Europe, is the hypothetical scenario of the European integration leading to formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of Americ ...

. Trivial: he is a cousin of the author Javier Cercas

Early career

Cercas graduated in law in 1974 from University Complutense of Madrid. After leaving University he was a Legal advisor for an insurance company (1974) and a Legal advisor to the Agricultural Development Agency (1975). After his time as a legal adviso Alejandro moved into the Civil service becoming a Civil servant in the higher technical section of the Social Security Department (1977-1982) and he remains a Civil servant on secondment (since 1982).

Political career

Career in national politics

From 1974 to 1977 Cercas was a member of the Young Socialists Executive Committee (1974-1977). Thereafter, he became a member of the PSOE Federal Committee (1979-2000). He also held the position of Area secretary, PSOE Executive Committee between 1984 and 1996. Cercas was elected as a member of the Congress of Deputies for Madrid in 1982. Following this, in 1989, he became a member of the Congress of Deputies for Cáceres where he remained until he was elected as Member of the European Parliament in 1999. During his time in the Congress of Deputies Cercas held the position of Chairman of the Committee on Social Policy and Employment of the Congress of Deputies (1982-1986) and afterwards the position of spokesperson on Social Affairs (1986-1999).

Member of the European Parliament, 1999–2014

From 1999, Cercas was a Member of the European Parliament since 1999, where he served as the S&D Coordinator of the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion, free movement for workers and pensio ...

from 2009. S&D

Work on the Troika

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cercas, Alejandro 1949 births Living people Members of the 2nd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 3rd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 4th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) MEPs for Spain 1999–2004 MEPs for Spain 2004–2009 MEPs for Spain 2009–2014 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party MEPs