Toledo and García-Berdoy./ Photos: Embassy of France and Foreign Ministry
The Diplomat. 02/12/2016
Today the Cabinet is appointing Jorge Toledo as new secretary of State for the European Union, whereas the current ambassador to Berlin, Pablo García-Berdoy, will be Spain’s next permanent representative before the EU, according to information provided to The Diplomat by reliable sources.
Both appointments are the first important ones made by the new Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, who limited himself, in November, to confirm the head of Office of José Manuel García-Margallo, the diplomat Juan José Buitrago, in the aforementioned position waiting to find a replacement.
Toledo has worked in the last session in Moncloa with Jorge Moragas as a director of the department of European Affairs and of the G-20, a position that has allowed him to be part of the Spanish delegation that accompanied Mariano Rajoy in every European summit. During the negotiations of the European Treaty of Nice was the architect of the so-called ‘Toledo clause’ by which Spain gained an advantageous position in the votes of the European Council when seeking a blocking minority.
For the positions of secretary of State for the European Union and permanent representative before the EU
The new secretary of State for the EU is a graduate in Law and he joined the Diplomatic Service in 1989. He has been assigned to Spain’s diplomatic representations in India and Japan. In 2005, he was appointed director of Office of Alberto Navarro, first secretary of State for the EU with Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and, in 2008, he was sent as ambassador to Senegal.
For his part, García Berdoy is a graduate in Law and he has been a diplomat since 1987. He was consul to Manila (the Philippines) and then he was assigned to Bonn (Germany). Between 2002 and 2004, he was director general of Foreign Policy for Europe within the Foreign Ministry and, in 2005, he was sent as ambassador to Romania.
In 2009, he asked for a voluntary leave to lead the Aspen Institute foundation in Spain and, in March 2012, after asking for his re-entry, he was appointed Spain’s Ambassador to Germany.
