José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra (born 31 May 1955) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who currently serves as a

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 ...

integrated within the European People's Party political group. He was previously the Head of the EU Delegation to Argentina between 2015 and 2017.

Studies

José Ignacio Salafranca has a bachelor's degree in law, PHD law courses at the Complutense University of Madrid and Diplomate in European integration by the Diplomatic School of Madrid and the National Institute of Public Administration. He also is Honorary Doctorate by Las Américas University of Chile

Political career

Member of the European Parliament, 1994–2014

Sánchez-Neyra has been a

since the 1994 European elections. In Parliament, he sat on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was a substitute for the

Committee on Constitutional Affairs The Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) is a committee of the European Parliament dealing with institutional matters such as revisions to the Treaties of the European Union, inter-institutional agreements, and the Parliament's internal rules ...

, substitute for the Delegation to the EU-

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Joint Parliamentary Committee. From 2006 and 2007, Salafranca was a member of the Parliament's

Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners The Temporary Committee on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transport and illegal detention of prisoners, widely referred to as the CIA committee, was a Committee of the European Parliament that was set up in 2006 to investi ...

. On the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra served as the European Parliament's rapporteur on the bi-regional strategic association between the EU and Latin America and the association, political dialogue and cooperation agreements between the European Community and Mexico,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and the Andean Community. In addition to his committee assignments, Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra was a member of the

European People's Party Group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group or simply EPP) is a political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent ME ...

Bureau. Between 2001 and 2004, he also served as Vice-Chairman of the Group. Other roles: * 2001-2004: Member of the EPP Group Policy Bureau * EPP-ED Group coordinator on the Committee on Foreign Affairs * Former Chairman of the Delegation for relations with the countries of South America and the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America,

and Cuba * 2001:

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 ...

representative at the Second Summit of Heads of State and Government of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean (Madrid, 2002) and at the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean (Guadalajara, Mexico, 2004), and head of the parliamentary delegation to the 12th, 13th and 14th San Jose Ministerial Conferences with the

Rio Group The Rio Group (G-Rio) was a permanent association of political consultation of Latin America and Caribbean countries, created in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on December 18, 1986 with the purpose of creating a better political relationship among the co ...

(2000, 2001) and the Euro-Mediterranean partnership Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra chaired the Parliament's observer mission for the 2000 general elections in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, the 2002 presidential elections in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

., in Afghanistan in 2005, in El Salvador in 2009 and Paraguay in 2013.

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Argentina, 2015–2017

On 31 August 2015,

Federica Mogherini Federica Mogherini (; born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. A member of the Democratic ...

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European U ...

, appointed Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra as Head of the EU Delegation to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Member of the European Parliament, 2017–present

Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra has again been serving as

since 3 January 2017.http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/2002/JOSE+IGNACIO_SALAFRANCA+SANCHEZ-NEYRA_home.html Profile of José Ignacio Salafranca in the

website He is currently a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs where he is Vice-Coordinator of the EPP group and Standing Rapporteur of the UE-Mexico agreement and the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III

Committee on International Trade The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Bernd Lange.Committee on Budgetary Control The Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) is a Committees of the European Parliament, committee of the European Parliament. with 30 permanent members. It can be seen as the European Union's internal "political watchdog", seeking to identify undesi ...

Standing Rapporteur of the EU Anti-Fraud Programm

and the Special committee on financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance. In 2018 he was the President of the European Parliament Delegation to the Electoral Observation Missions in Paraguay and Lebanon.

Political activities

In 2006, Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra was the chief of a committee of 70 electoral observers from the European Union for 2006 Mexican general election, the Mexican general election. After the election Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra considered the controversial election clean and considered the decision of the Electoral Tribunal as fair. Mark Almond, an election observer questioned the objectivity of José Ignacio Salafranca and some of the mass media. In May 2015, news media reported that Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra was included in a Russian blacklist of prominent people from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

who are not allowed to enter the country. On 18 February 2019, together with MEPs

Esteban González Pons Esteban González Pons (; born 21 August 1964) is a Spanish politician of the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP) who was a member of the European Parliament between 2014 and 2023. He was elected to the 15th Congress of Deputies from Val ...

and Gabriel Mato Adrover, claimed that they were expelled from

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

as they wanted to visit

Juan Guaidó Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician and opposition figure. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of V ...

.Venezuela expulsa a la delegación del Partido Popular Europeo que tenía previsto reunirse con Guaidó

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salafranca Sanchez-Neyra, Jose Ignacio 1955 births Living people Complutense University of Madrid alumni MEPs for Spain 1999–2004 MEPs for Spain 2004–2009 MEPs for Spain 2009–2014 MEPs for Spain 2014–2019 People's Party (Spain) MEPs