Carlos Manuel Félix Moedas (born 10 August 1970) is a Portuguese civil engineer, economist and politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD), who is the current

Mayor of Lisbon This is a list of mayors of Lisbon (, literally: "President of the Municipal Chamber of Lisbon", and also , literally: "President of the Municipality of Lisbon"), the capital city of Portugal, and also the most populated. This office is considere ...

. From 2014 until 2019, Moedas served as European Commissioner covering the portfolio of Research, Science and Innovation under the leadership of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

. Between 2011 and 2014 he served as Secretary of State in the

XIX Constitutional Government of Portugal The XIX Constitutional Government of Portugal ( Portuguese: ''XIX Governo Constitucional de Portugal'') was the 19th government of the Third Portuguese Republic, under the current Constitution. It was in office from 21 June 2011 to 30 October 2 ...

. In March 2021, Moedas announced his candidacy as Mayor of Lisbon in the 2021 local elections, and was elected on 26 September of the same year.

Early life and education

Moedas was born to a communist journalist and a seamstress in Beja,

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

, southern Portugal, in 1970. He studied at

Lisbon University The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former University of Lisbon (1911� ...

, graduating in 1993 with a degree in

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from the

Instituto Superior Técnico The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, also known as Técnico, and stylized TÉCNICO LISBOA; English: ) is the school of engineering and technology of the University of Lisbon. It was founded as an autonomous school in 1911, and was integrated in ...

. He spent his final year studying at the ENPC (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) via the Erasmus Programme. He was one of the first Portuguese students to undertake an Erasmus exchange.

Professional career

After leaving university, Moedas worked as a project manager for the Suez Group in France between 1993 and 1998. He then took postgraduate studies at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, graduating in 2000 with the degree of

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

, after which he came back to Europe to work in

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

for

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

. He then worked at Eurohypo Investment Bank in its Real Estate Investment Banking Division, before returning, in August 2004, to Portugal, when Moedas joined the real estate consulting company ''Aguirre Newman Portugal'' (now ''Savills Portugal'') becoming

Managing Partner A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position, traditionally indicating co-ownership of a partnership in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits as " equity partners" ...

until 2008, when he set up his own

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

company, ''Crimson Investment Management''.

Political career

Following the

Eurozone crisis The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The ...

, Moedas was appointed coordinator of the

(PSD) Economic Research Unit. He and Eduardo Catroga led PSD negotiations in the run-up to Portugal's 2011 State Budget, following which he was selected by PSD to contest the Beja constituency in the legislative elections held on the 5th of June 2011. Moedas was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, becoming the first PSD Member of Parliament for that district since 1995. The day after entering Parliament, on 21 June 2011, the Prime Minister appointed him to his Cabinet in the XIX Constitutional Government as Secretary of State. Moedas oversaw EASME (Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), the agency created to monitor and control the implementation of the structural reforms agreed in the context of the assistance programme by a

troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three' or the digit '3') may refer to: * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia Politics * Triumvirate, a political regime rul ...

composed of 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 ...

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...

and the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. In 2014,

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the List of prime ministers of Portugal, 117th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 201 ...

, Prime Minister of Portugal, nominated him as European Commissioner, and Moedas' name was approved by EC President-elect

on 1 September. On 1 November 2014, Moedas became European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. In March 2021, Moedas announced his candidacy as

in the 2021 local elections, and was elected on 26 September of the same year. He took office on 18 October 2021.

Other activities

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) *

Aga Khan University Aga Khan University is a private research university based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is a non-profit institution and an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. It was founded in 1983 as Pakistan's first private university. Starting in 2000, t ...

, Member of the Chancellor’s Commission (since 2021) * Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the High-Level Group of Personalities on Africa-Europe Relations (since 2020) * Friends of Europe, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020) *

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, Member of the Advisory Board of the "Futures of Education" Initiative (since 2019) *

Jacques Delors Institute The Notre Europe - Jacques Delors Institute (), formerly ''Notre Europe'' (French for "Our Europe"), is an independent think tank based in Paris. Founded in 1996 by Jacques Delors, it aims to "think a united Europe." Enrico Letta currently serve ...

, Vice-President (since 2020), Member of the Board of Directors (since 2019) * Re-Imagine Europa, Member of the Advisory Board

Electoral history

Lisbon City Council election, 2021

, - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Seats ! align="center" style="width: 50px", +/− , - , style="background:;", , align="left", PSD/ CDS–PP/

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

/ MPT/ PPM , align=left , Carlos Moedas , , 83,185 , , 34.3 , , 7 , , style="color:green;", +1 , - , style="background:magenta;", , align="left", PS/

Livre Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Fre ...

, align=left ,

Fernando Medina Fernando Medina Maciel Almeida Correia (born 10 March 1973) is a Portuguese economist and politician Socialist Party (PS) who served as Minister of Finance in the government of Prime Minister António Costa from 2022 to 2024. He previously served ...

, , 80,907 , , 33.3 , , 7 , , style="color:red;", –1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", CDU , align=left , João Ferreira , , 25,550 , , 10.5 , , 2 , , ±0 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", BE , align=left ,

Beatriz Gomes Dias Beatriz Gebalina Pereira Gomes Dias is a Portuguese (born 26 March 1971) teacher, activist and politician who was born in Senegal. She was elected as a deputy to the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, representing the Left Bloc, in 2019, but ...

, , 15,057 , , 6.2 , , 1 , , ±0 , - , style="background:#202056;", , align="left", Chega , align=left , Nuno Graciano , , 10,730 , , 4.4 , , 0 , , ''new'' , - , style="background:;", , align="left", IL , align=left , Bruno Horta Soares , , 10,213 , , 4.2 , , 0 , , ''new'' , - , style="background:teal;", , align="left", PAN , align=left , Manuela Gonzaga , , 6,625 , , 2.7 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , style="background:white;", , colspan="2" align="left", Other parties , 3,031 , , 1.3 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , colspan="3" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 7,445 , , 3.1 , , – , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="3" align="left", Turnout , 242,743 , , 50.99 , , 17 , , ±0 , - , colspan="7" align=left, Source: Autárquicas 2021

Honours and awards

* Member of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering (2014) * Commander of the Spanish Order of Civil Merit by the King Felipe VI of Spain (2015) * Honorary Doctorate in Laws by the University of Cork (2016) University College Cork
"EU Commissioner honoured by UCC"
, ''Honorary Doctorate in Laws by the University of Cork (2016)'', 4 November 2016
Honorary Doctorate by ESCP Europe - ''École supérieure de commerce de Paris'' (2018)
* Honorary Fellow of the AAS - African Academy of Sciences (2018) * Gold Medal from the Portuguese Order of Engineering (2019) * University of Coimbra Prize (2020) * Honorary Doctorate by the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (2022) * Honorary Doctorate by the West University of Timisoara (2022) * Knight of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of Pope St Sylvester (2023) * Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique (2023) * Distinguished Citizen of the City of Buenos Aires (2024) * Civic Intervention Award from the Order of Engineers (2024) * French Legion of Honor Award (2025)

Publications

* Amaro, N. L., Moedas, C. 2011. O Novo Paradigma do Investimento Imobiliário: Análise e estratégias para um sector-chave da economia. Sabedoria Alternativa
Bogers, M., Chesbrough, H., Moedas, C. 2018. Open Innovation: Research, Practices, and Policies. California Management Review, Volume: 60 issue: 2, page(s): 5-16
* Moedas, C. "Vento Suão: Portugal e a Europa", Guerra e Paz, Lisboa, 2020.

References

External links

Biography on the European Commission website

Article on Wall Street Journal by Carlos Moedas

Article on Les Echos (French) by Carlos Moedas

Article on Science Diplomacy and the European Union

Article on California Management Review: Open Innovation: Research, Practices, and Policies by Marcel Bogers, Henry Chesbrough, Carlos Moedas
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moedas, Carlos 1970 births 21st-century Portuguese economists Alumni of the Erasmus Programme École des Ponts ParisTech alumni European commissioners (2014–2019) Goldman Sachs people Government ministers of Portugal Grand Officers of the Order of Prince Henry Harvard Business School alumni Living people Mayors of Lisbon Members of the 12th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) People from Beja, Portugal Portuguese bankers Portuguese business executives Portuguese European commissioners Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians University of Lisbon alumni