Ana Palacio, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain

Ana Palacio is an international lawyer specializing in international and European Union law. She is a member of the Boards of Enagás (Spanish gas system), PharmaMar (biotechnology), and AEE Power (energy infrastructure), as well as of the International Advisory Boards of Investcorp (alternative investments); and of the Governing Council of the Instituto de Empresa (business school). She is also a member of several think-tanks and organizations such as the Atlantic Council of the United States, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Elcano Royal Institute, among others. Ana Palacio is a Visiting Professor at the Edmund E. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

From 1994 to 2002, Ana Palacio was a member of the European Parliament, where she chaired the Legal Affairs and Internal Market as well as the Citizens Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committees. She served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain (2002-2004) and was a member of the Spanish Parliament (2004-2006) where she chaired the Joint Committee of the two Houses for European Union Affairs. She has been Senior Vice-President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group and Secretary General of ICSID (2006-2008). She has also been a member of the Executive Committee and Senior Vice-President for International Affairs of AREVA (2008-2009) and served on the Council of State of Spain (2012-2018).

Ana Palacio maintains a monthly column at Project Syndicate and she is a recurrent participant and speaker at international conferences and fora.