María Aránzazu "Arancha" González Laya (born 22 May 1969) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

lawyer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the

Spanish government 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 o ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Spain since 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since July 2017, having p ...

from 2020 to 2021. Currently, González is the dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at the elite French university

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

. Earlier in her career, González served as assistant

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and the executive director of the

International Trade Centre The International Trade Centre (ITC) () is a multilateral agency which has a joint mandate with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The headqua ...

, a joint agency of the

and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

from August 2013 until January 2020.

Early life and education

Born in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

on 22 May 1969, González Laya grew up in the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

municipality of Tolosa. She graduated in law from the University of Navarre and has a postgraduate degree in

European law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...

from Carlos III University of Madrid.

Career

Career in the private sector

González Laya began her career in the private sector as an associate at German law firm Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann in Brussels, advising companies on trade, competition and state aid matters.

Career in the public sector

Between 2002 and 2005 González Laya was 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 ...

’s spokeswoman for trade and adviser to the

European Commissioner for Trade The European Commissioner for Trade (sometimes referred to as the ''EU Trade Commissioner'') is the member of the European Commission responsible for the Common Commercial Policy (EU), European Union's common commercial policy. Responsibilities ...

Pascal Lamy Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is a French political consultant and businessman. He was the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1 September 2005 to 1 September 2013 for 8 years. In April 2009, WTO members reappointed Lamy ...

. She subsequently served in various capacities in the Commission in the area of international trade and external relations, including negotiations of trade agreements between the EU and

Mercosur The Southern Common Market (commonly known by abbreviation ''Mercosur'' in Spanish and ''Mercosul'' in Portuguese) is a South American trade bloc established by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991 and Protocol of Ouro Preto in 1994. Its full me ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

and Mediterranean countries. González Laya served as Chief of Staff to

in his role as WTO Director General between 2005 and 2013. In that capacity she was intimately involved in setting up the WTO's

Aid for Trade Aid for Trade is an initiative by the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as a policy concept in international economic and trade development, concerned with helping developing countries and particularly the least developed countries build tra ...

initiativeRyan Heath and Eline Schaart (2018)
Women Who Shape Brussels - 2018 Ranking: Arancha González
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''. as well as the Enhanced Integrated Framework, a joint venture of several international organisations helping to build trade capacity in the world's poorest countries. She served as the WTO Director-General's representative (Sherpa) at the G-20. During her tenure as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, González Laya spearheaded global efforts to empower women economically. This included the launch in 2015 of th
SheTrades Initiative
which aims to connect three million women entrepreneurs to market by 2021. She also played a leading role in the adoption of th

at the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December 2017. In 2019, González co-edited "Women Shaping Global Economic Governance", a collection of essays by 28 women leaders from across the globe. In 2014, González Laya launched the firs
Trade for Sustainable Development Forum
gathering public and private sectors in an effort to drive the debate on the greening of trade and addressing trade and climate change. The 6th edition of the Trade for Sustainable Forum was held on 7–9 October 2019.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation

On 13 January 2020 González Laya was sworn in Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the Sánchez Second Cabinet, succeeding

Margarita Robles María Margarita Robles Fernández (; born 10 November 1956 in León) is a Spaniards, Spanish judge and politician, currently serving as Ministry of Defence (Spain), Minister of Defence since June 2018. From November 2019 to January 2020, she s ...

as acting Minister. In May 2020, some media echoed rumors implying González Laya would be the favorite to lead the

(WTO) following the announcement that the Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo, would resign in August 2020; by July, she ruled out any candidacy for the role. In December 2020, González Laya said that Spain welcomed the

normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

of relations between

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, but reminded that the issue of

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

remained to be settled within the

. On 31 December 2020, González Laya reached an agreement in principle with the United Kingdom regarding

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, amid the end of the Brexit transition period. In 2021, González Laya presented a new "Strategy on Foreign Action", the blueprint for Spain's foreign policy for the next three years. In July 2021, González Laya was replaced with José Manuel Albares in a cabinet reshuffle affecting five other posts. In September 2021, European Commissioner

Paolo Gentiloni Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who was European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission from 1 December 2019 to 30 November 2024. He had previously served as prime minister of Italy ...

appointed González Laya as chair of the Wise Persons Group on Challenges Facing the Customs Union.

Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs, 2022–present

On 18 February

appointed González Laya as Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs effective 1 March 2022. She is the first woman to hold this position. PSIA keeps its second place worldwide in "Politics & International Studies" for the second year in the 2021 QS World University Rankings.

Other activities

Bertelsmann Stiftung The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent Foundation (nonprofit), foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. The foundati ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2023) * German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Member of the Advisory Council (since 2023) *

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC), formerly Munich Conference on Security Policy, is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Germany, since 1963. Over the past four decades the Munich Security Con ...

, Member of the Advisory Council (since 2023) *

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 decis ...

(ECFR), Member (since 2021) * Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the High-Level Group of Personalities on Africa-Europe Relations (since 2020) * Centre for European Reform (CER), Member of the Advisory Board * Elcano Royal Institute for International and Strategic Studies, Member of the Board of Trustees * GLOBSEC, Member of the International Advisory Council * International Gender Champions (IGC), Chair of the Global Advisory Board (since 2019) *

(ITC), chair of the advisory board on Trade and Investment Support Institutions *

Mo Ibrahim Foundation The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is an African non-grant foundation founded in 2006 by businessman Mo Ibrahim. Headquartered in London and Dakar, Senegal, it works to strengthen governance and leadership in Africa through its key initiatives: * Ibra ...

, Member of the Advisory Council * Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Member of the Strategic Committee *

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

(WEF), Co-chair of the Global Future Council on the Future of International Trade and InvestmentArancha González Laya

(WEF).
EU-Africa High-level group
member * Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, commissioner

Political positions

González has been an advocate for Spanish unity and dialogue on the Catalan independence issue.

Personal life

González has taught extensively on trade and development, including at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (; ; ) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with three campuses in Bruges, Belgium; Warsaw, Poland; and Tirana, Albania. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 as a result of the 1948 Congress of ...

(Bruges), the IELPO (Barcelona), the World Trade Institute (WTI) and the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. She speaks six languages: Spanish, Basque, English, French, German and Italian. Her hobbies include trekking and arts.

References

* * * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Laya, Arancha 1969 births Living people People from San Sebastián Basque women in politics Charles III University of Madrid alumni Female foreign ministers Foreign ministers of Spain People in international development People from Tolosa, Spain Spanish officials of the United Nations Spanish women lawyers United Nations officials University of Navarra alumni Women nonprofit executives World Trade Organization people