Miguel Arias Cañete (born 24 February 1950) is a Spanish politician who served as
European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action in the
Juncker Commission
The Juncker Commission was the European Commission in office from 1 November 2014 to 30 November 2019. Its President of the European Commission, president was Jean-Claude Juncker, who presided over 27 other commissioners (one from Member state of ...
from 2014 to 2019.
A member of the Spanish
People's Party, Arias served as
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Environment in the
Government of Spain
The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain.
The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the ...
from 2011 until 2014, before being selected to head his Party List in the
European Parliamentary elections.
Early life and education
Arias Cañete was born to judge don Alfonso Arias de la Cuesta, and educated in Madrid, first at the Jesuit School at
Chamartín before reading Law at the
Universidad Complutense.
Career
After graduating in 1974, he joined the Spanish Civil Service joining the
State Lawyers Corps. His first position was in the Spanish Tax Agency at
Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...
, before transferring to the
Cadiz office. In 1978 he resigned as a civil servant to become a Professor of Law at the
University of Cádiz
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
, where he remained until 1982.
Arias entered politics with the
People's Alliance (AP) in 1982, serving as a member of the
Parliament of Andalusia
The Parliament of Andalusia () is the legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia instituted by the Andalusian Charter of Autonomy of 1981. It is elected by the residents of Andalusia every four years.
Functions
*To elect the ...
from 1982 to 1986, representing
Cádiz
Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
.
Arias Cañete joined the AP's national executive board during the presidency of
Antonio Hernández Mancha
Antonio Hernández Mancha (born 1 April 1951 in Guareña, Badajoz) is a former Spanish people, Spanish politician and president of the People's Alliance (Spain), People's Alliance political party from 1987 to 1989. He is married and has two child ...
. Once Spain joined the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...
on 1 January 1986, he became a member of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
as delegate appointed by the
Cortes Generales
The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house).
The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...
, and later, when the
first election to the European Parliament took place in Spain in 1987, he was elected MEP. He served until 1999, chairing the Agricultural and Regional Politics Committees. From 1993 until 2000 he served the
Spanish Senate
The Senate () is the upper house of the , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the Lower house, lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palacio del Senado, Palace of the Senate in Madri ...
, then was appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Fishing by Prime Minister
José María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...
.
Arias Cañete unsuccessfully bid for the Mayorship of
Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...
vis-à-vis the 1995 and 1999 local elections, serving as municipal councillor in the opposition from 1995 to 2000.
He was then elected Senator representing Cádiz in the Spanish Senate (2000–2004), and from 2004 to 2008 Deputy for
Cadiz in the
Spanish Congress.
During the same period, he ascended inside the People's Party to "Economic Secretary" and president of its Electoral Committee.
In 2008, he was elected Representative for Madrid in the Spanish Congress and
Member of the European Parliament
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
for
Electoral District Madrid, which he represented until 2014.
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, 2011–2014
In 2011
Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey (, ; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...
appointed Arias as
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment in the Spanish Government. He had already served as agriculture minister from 200–2004, but the environment was a new brief for him as it was previously dealt with by a separate ministry.
During his time in office, Arias managed to get parliamentary approval of a 2013 law allowing some construction to take place closer to the coast than previously allowed, raising alarm among ecologists and opposition parties, who argued the change could further blight the Mediterranean shoreline.
European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, 2014–2019
In 2014, Arias was picked by Rajoy to lead the People's Party's list in the
2014 European elections.
[Nicholas Hirst (1 August 2014)]
Cañete nominated as Spain’s commissioner
'' European Voice''. Following the elections, Spain nominated him for the
Juncker Commission
The Juncker Commission was the European Commission in office from 1 November 2014 to 30 November 2019. Its President of the European Commission, president was Jean-Claude Juncker, who presided over 27 other commissioners (one from Member state of ...
in August 2014.
By early September, European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker
Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...
assigned Arias to the office of European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, where he became the first single supervisor of those two policy areas.
[Ewa Krukowska (10 September 2014)]
Spain’s Canete to Get EU Merged Climate-Energy Chief Role
''Bloomberg Business
''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...
''. He took office on 1November 2014. In this capacity, he works under the guidance of
Maroš Šefčovič
Maroš Šefčovič (; born 24 July 1966) is a Slovak diplomat and politician serving as European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency (2024–2029) in the Von der Leyen Commission II. Prior t ...
, the
European Commission Vice President for Energy Union.
He represented the European Union at international climate negotiations starting at the
2014 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Lima, followed by
COP21 in Paris for the signature of the
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (also called the Paris Accords or Paris Climate Accords) is an international treaty on climate change that was signed in 2016. The treaty covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and finance. The Paris Agreement was ...
. Following the agreement, much of his mandate was spent updating EU climate and energy policy to bring it in line with meeting the EU's commitments under the agreement. Cañete also oversaw the introduction of a number of new climate policies during his mandate, including the
Effort Sharing Regulation covering non-ETS emissions, a number of transport initiatives, and a regulation on greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (
LULUCF). The LULUCF regulation marked the first time the commitment on LULUCF was enshrined in EU law (although Member States had undertaken the commitment previously). On climate policy, Arias Cañete has been responsible for the plan to introduce an overhaul of the
European Union Emission Trading Scheme
The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a carbon emission trading scheme (or ''cap and trade'' scheme) that began in 2005 and is intended to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Cap and trade schemes limit emissions of spec ...
, the world's biggest cap-and-trade program.
In summer 2015, Arias Cañete launched a plan to turn the Mediterranean region into "a major gas marketplace" as part of European Union efforts to reduce dependency on dominant oil and gas supplier Russia. Shortly after, he brokered an agreement between France, Spain and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
on the MidCat gas pipeline intended to increase exports of Algerian gas into the European energy mix.
The Minister of Energy of the Republic of
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
Berat Albayrak
Berat Albayrak ( born 21 February 1978) is a Turkish businessman and politician. He served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources from 2015 to 2018 and as the minister of treasury and finance from 2018 to 2020. In the general elections ...
, met with the European Union Commissioner for Energy and Climate, Miguel Arias Canete, at the "Second Meeting of the
Turkey-EU High Level Energy Dialogue" in 2016.
In his statement during the meeting,
Berat Albayrak
Berat Albayrak ( born 21 February 1978) is a Turkish businessman and politician. He served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources from 2015 to 2018 and as the minister of treasury and finance from 2018 to 2020. In the general elections ...
said; We have restarted the process for the opening of the Energy Chapter with the European Union. He said that the issue of opening this chapter will be transferred from the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
to the
European Council
The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...
in a few months and that he hopes to gain momentum as before within the framework of EU membership negotiations with the opening of the 15th Energy Chapter after it is passed by the Council.
Minister Albayrak also invited Canete to the
World Energy Congress to be held in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
on 9–13 October 2016.
Later career
In June 2019, Arias Cañete announced his will to put an end to his political career once his mandate as commissioner expired on 1 November 2019, vowing to retire to his home in Jerez de la Frontera and to take care of his grandchildren.
Other activities include:
*
Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, Member of the Jury
* Balam Agriculture, Independent Member of the board of directors (since 2021)
*
Beka Finance, member of the Board since 2021
Controversies
Arias has faced accusations of conflicts of interests regarding his business interests and his political posts. While serving as a member of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
’s
Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) is a committee of the European Parliament.
Responsibilities of the Committee
AGRI is the European Parliament committee responsible for:
#The operation and development of the Common Agricul ...
, he allegedly held interests in several agricultural businesses, leading the Spanish newspaper ''
El País
(; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
'' to describe him in 2014 as always being on the edge of a conflict of interest. In 2014, the environmental group
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...
and anticorruption group
Corporate Europe Observatory criticised his nomination to the
Climate Action
Climate action (or climate change action) refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments, and so forth that aim at reducing the severity of human-induced climate change and its impacts. "More climate action" is a central demand o ...
and Energy
portfolio
Portfolio may refer to:
Objects
* Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase
Collections
* Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual
* Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a ...
due to his family's involvement in the oil industry.
Furthermore, Arias was called to give evidence before the Provincial Court of Barcelona over a friend's alleged laundering of 2 billion pesetas.
Arias was accused of sexism after Arias and his Socialist rival
Elena Valenciano were featured in Spanish television's first live debate between the country's leading candidates for a European Parliament election in May 2014, Valenciano was widely perceived to have beaten him in the debate. Asked to explain his poor performance in the debate, he pointed to the fact that he was facing a woman: "If you abuse your intellectual superiority, you come across like a macho who is pushing a defenceless woman into a corner".
[Christian Oliver and Tobias Buck (16 September 2014)]
European energy nominee sells oil holdings to appease MEPs
''Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
''.
In September 2014, Arias sold two large shareholdings in oil companies Petrolífera Ducar and Petrologis Canarias to appease parliamentarians threatening to reject his confirmation as European Commissioner because of conflicts of interest. Also, his son resigned from their boards. As of October 2014 more than half a million people signed an Avaaz petition calling for Aria's rejection.
The Panama papers
The Panama Papers () are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) published beginning April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. These document ...
in 2016 revealed that his wife's world-renowned bull operations, managed by their two sons, Pablo and Juan Pedro, and co-owned by her siblings, received well over $1 million in farm subsidies and her other farm, forestry and winery businesses also received EU subsidies.
Panamanian Rinconada Investments Group SA was an offshore investment
Offshore investment is the keeping of money in a jurisdiction other than one's country of residence. Offshore jurisdictions are used to pay less tax in many countries by large and small-scale investors. Poorly regulated offshore domiciles have ser ...
company registered in 2005, listed as inactive in January 2010, which Deutsche Bank Geneva, Swiss-based financial services company Gestrust SA and Mossack Fonseca helped to create. Arias' wife and the Domecq family are politically exposed persons and were empowered to approve transactions.[
]
Personal life
Arias, from a Spanish gentry family, is married to Micaela Domecq y Solís-Beaumont by whom he has four children. His wife's aristocratic family has long been established in the Jerez de la Frontera region of Andalusia, where they own large farming and livestock estates including the breeding of fighting bulls and have given their name to a world-famous brand of fortified wine
Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Command ...
s.
Recognition
*
Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III
The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III (, originally ; Abbreviation, Abbr.: OC3) is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent Order of merit, orders of merit bes ...
(2004)
* Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (2011)[: ]
*
Chevalier, Ordre du Mérite agricole
*
Knight, Sovereign Military Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arias Canete, Miguel
1950 births
Agriculture ministers of Spain
Complutense University of Madrid alumni
Knights of Malta
Knights of the Order of Agricultural Merit
Living people
Members of the 8th Congress of Deputies (Spain)
Members of the 9th Congress of Deputies (Spain)
Members of the 1st Parliament of Andalusia
Members of the Senate of Spain
MEPs for Spain 1986–1987
MEPs for Spain 1987–1989
MEPs for Spain 1989–1994
MEPs for Spain 2014–2019
People's Party (Spain) MEPs
Politicians from Madrid
Spanish European commissioners
Academic staff of the University of Cádiz
Members of the State Lawyers Corps
European commissioners (2014–2019)