The Diplomat
The president of the Elcano Royal Institute, José Juan Ruiz, yesterday chaired the meeting of the Board of Trustees, which announced the entry of new trustees -among them, Josep Borrell and Ángeles Moreno Bau-, addressed the think tank’s involvement in the debates on the Spanish presidency of the EU Council and requested support for the candidacy of former Venezuelan minister Moisés Naím for the Princess of Asturias Award.
The meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid, held at the organization’s headquarters in Madrid, was attended, among others, by Ángeles Moreno Bau, State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Felipe González, former Prime Minister of Spain; the former Minister and former President of Castilla-La Mancha, Dolores de Cospedal, Vice President of the Elcano Royal Institute; the former minister Eduardo Serra, former president of the Elcano Royal Institute; the former minister and former European commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, representative of the Popular Party in the Board of Trustees; Enrique Iglesias, former Ibero-American secretary; and representatives of companies such as Repsol, Endesa, Banco Santander, Cepsa, Solaria, Oesía group, Enagás, Caixabank, Petronor, Mutua Madrileña, Iberdrola and Naturgy.
Besides, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; the First Vice-President for Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño; the former Prime Ministers José María Aznar, Mariano Rajoy and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the former Minister, former High Representative of the EU and former Secretary General of NATO Javier Solana delegated their votes to the President or the Vice-President.
During the meeting, it was informed that, for the first time in its history, Elcano will obtain in 2023, from its patrons, partners and projects, an income of more than five million euros. Likewise, the President, José Juan Ruiz, requested the support of the Board of Trustees for the candidacy of the Venezuelan journalist Moisés Naím for the Princess of Asturias Awards. Moisés Naím, member of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, international columnist and former editor of Foreign Policy magazine, was Minister of Industry and Commerce during the presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez, director of the Central Bank of Venezuela and executive director of the World Bank. He is the author of many academic articles and more than fifteen books on international affairs, economics and politics.
On the other hand, the director of the Elcano Royal Institute, Charles Powell, reported on the Action Plan for 2023, through which it “aspires to contribute value to the debates that the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU will undoubtedly raise in the second half of the year”, with special attention to two issues: the relationship between the EU and Latin America and the concept of open strategic autonomy. The Action Plan will be articulated around ten thematic axes: globalization, development and governance, challenges to international peace and security, democracy and citizenship, climate and energy transition, technology and economic transformations, the future of Europe, Latin America as a global actor, the rise of China, the USA and the new world order, challenges and opportunities of the Neighborhood and the influence and image of Spain. In addition, there are five cross-cutting themes: cities, culture, gender, migration and health.
Finally, the Board of Trustees approved the integration into the Elcano Royal Institute of four new trustees: Insud Pharma, a company that operates throughout the value chain of the pharmaceutical industry; the Bank of Spain, which will be represented by its governor, Pablo Hernández de Cos; Angeles Moreno Bau, whose incorporation is “important” for the development of the debates “that will arise around Europe in the coming years, and especially during the next twelve months”; and Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.
According to Elcano, Borrell “chairs the group of commissioners for A Stronger Europe in the World and in recent times has been one of the most active Europeans in promoting the need for the Union to act autonomously and defend its values and interests on a global scale and to advance towards a European Defense Union”. Borrell and Moreno Bau coincided between 2018 and 2020 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when the former served as minister and she as undersecretary of the Ministry.
