Carlos Manuel Félix Moedas (born 10 August 1970) is a Portuguese civil engineer, economist and politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(PSD). From 2014 until 2019, Moedas served as European Commissioner covering the portfolio of Research, Science and Innovation under the leadership of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also served as Finance Minister ...

. Between 2011 and 2014 he served as Secretary of State in the

XIX Constitutional Government of Portugal The XIX Constitutional Government of Portugal ( pt, XIX Governo Constitucional de Portugal) had Pedro Passos Coelho as the prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the mini ...

. In March 2021, Moedas announced his candidacy as

Mayor of Lisbon This is a list of mayors of Lisbon ( pt, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, CML, literally: "President of the Municipal Chamber of Lisbon", and also pt, Presidente do Município de Lisboa, literally: "President of the Municipality of Lis ...

in the 2021 local elections, and was elected on 26 September of the same year.

Early life and education

Moedas was born to a communist journalist and a seamstress in Beja, Alentejo, southern Portugal, in 1970. He studied at

Lisbon University The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, t ...

, graduating in 1993 with a degree in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

from the

Instituto Superior Técnico Instituto Superior Técnico MHSE • MHIP (IST, also known colloquially as Técnico, and stylized TÉCNICO LISBOA) is a public school of engineering and technology, part of University of Lisbon. It was founded as an autonomous school in 1911 ...

. He spent his final year studying at the ENPC (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) via the Erasmus Programme; he was one of the first Portuguese students to undertake an Erasmus exchange.

Professional career

After leaving university, Moedas worked as a project manager for the Suez Group in France between 1993 and 1998. He then took postgraduate studies at Harvard Business School, graduating in 2000 with the degree of

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

, after which he came back to Europe to work in

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

for Goldman Sachs. He then worked at Eurohypo Investment Bank in its Real Estate Investment Banking Division, before returning, in August 2004, to Portugal, when Moedas joined the real estate consulting company ''Aguirre Newman Portugal'' (now ''Savills Portugal'') becoming

Managing Partner A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position, traditionally indicating co-ownership of a partnership in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits as "equity partners". Th ...

until 2008, when he set up his own investment management company, ''Crimson Investment Management''.

Political career

Following the

Eurozone crisis The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...

, Moedas was appointed coordinator of the

(PSD) Economic Research Unit. He and Eduardo Catroga led PSD negotiations in the run-up to Portugal's 2011 State Budget, following which he was selected by PSD to contest the Beja constituency in the legislative elections held on the 5th of June 2011. Portrait of Carlos Moedas

Moedas was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, becoming the first PSD Member of Parliament for that district since 1995. The day after entering Parliament, on 21 June 2011, the Prime Minister appointed him to his Cabinet in the XIX Constitutional Government as Secretary of State. Moedas oversaw EASME (Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), the agency created to monitor and control the implementation of the structural reforms agreed in the context of the assistance programme by a

troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Pol ...

composed of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centr ...

and the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

. In 2014,

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the 118th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 2015. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) b ...

, Prime Minister of Portugal, nominated him as European Commissioner, and Moedas' name was approved by EC President-elect

on 1 September. On 1 November 2014, Moedas became European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. In March 2021, Moedas announced his candidacy as

in the 2021 local elections, and was elected on 26 September of the same year. He took office on 18 October 2021.

Other activities

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

(ECFR), Member (since 2021) * Aga Khan University, Member of the Chancellor’s Commission (since 2021) * Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the High-Level Group of Personalities on Africa-Europe Relations (since 2020) *

Friends of Europe Friends of Europe is a Brussels-based, not-for-profit think-tank for European Union policy analysis and debate. The organisation, established in 1999, has no political or national allegiance and is independent of the EU institutions. Its declared ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020) *

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

, Member of the European Group (since 2020) *

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, Member of the Advisory Board of the "Futures of Education" Initiative (since 2019) * Jacques Delors Institute, Vice-President (since 2020), Member of the Board of Directors (since 2019) * Re-Imagine Europa, Member of the Advisory Board

Honours and awards

* Member of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering (2014) * Commander of the Spanish Order of Civil Merit by the King Felipe VI of Spain (2015) * Honorary Doctorate in Laws by the University of Cork (2016) University College Cork
"EU Commissioner honoured by UCC"
, ''Honorary Doctorate in Laws by the University of Cork (2016)'', 4 November 2016
Honorary Doctorate by ESCP Europe - ''École supérieure de commerce de Paris'' (2018)
* Honorary Fellow of the AAS - African Academy of Sciences (2018) * Gold Medal from the Portuguese Order of Engineering (2019)

Publications

* Amaro, N. L., Moedas, C. 2011. O Novo Paradigma do Investimento Imobiliário: Análise e estratégias para um sector-chave da economia. Sabedoria Alternativa
Bogers, M., Chesbrough, H., Moedas, C. 2018. Open Innovation: Research, Practices, and Policies. California Management Review, Volume: 60 issue: 2, page(s): 5-16
* Moedas, C. "Vento Suão: Portugal e a Europa", Guerra e Paz, Lisboa, 2020.

References

External links

Biography on the European Commission website

Article on Wall Street Journal by Carlos Moedas

Article on Les Echos (French) by Carlos Moedas

Article on Science Diplomacy and the European Union

Article on California Management Review: Open Innovation: Research, Practices, and Policies by Marcel Bogers, Henry Chesbrough, Carlos Moedas
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moedas, Carlos 1970 births École des Ponts ParisTech alumni Goldman Sachs people Government ministers of Portugal Grand Officers of the Order of Prince Henry Harvard Business School alumni Living people People from Beja, Portugal Portuguese bankers Portuguese business executives 21st-century Portuguese economists Portuguese European Commissioners Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians University of Lisbon alumni European Commissioners 2014–2019 Alumni of the Erasmus Programme Mayors of Lisbon