Francisco Javier Zarzalejos Nieto (; born 1960) is a Spanish civil servant and politician who has been serving 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 ...

since 2019.

Early life and education

Born on 6 June 1960, in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, son to , the Civil Governor of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

during the

Spanish Transition The Spanish transition to democracy, known in Spain as (; ) or (), is a period of History of Spain, modern Spanish history encompassing the regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system ...

. He is the brother of the journalists and . After Zarzalejos earned a

licentiate degree A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universitie ...

in Law at the

University of Deusto The University of Deusto (; ) is a Spanish private university owned by the Society of Jesus, with campuses in Bilbao and San Sebastián, and the Deusto Business School branch in Madrid. The University of Deusto is the oldest private university ...

Career in the public sector

Zarzalejos joined the High in 1984. From 1996 to 2004 Zarzalejos served as Secretary General of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

of Prime Minister

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

.Javier Zarzalejos

Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies The Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, also known as the Martens Centre and previously as the ''Centre for European Studies'', is a think tank and European political foundation affiliated to the European People's Party (EPP). The Mart ...

. Zarzalejos has been secretary general of the Foundation for Social Analysis and Studies (FAES) think tank since 2012, where he previously held the positions of director of the Constitution and Institutions Unit, and editor of the in-house publication ''Cuadernos de Pensamiento Político''.

Political career

Included in the 6th place of the People's Party (PP) list for the

2019 European Parliament election in Spain The 2019 European Parliament election in Spain was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, as part of the 2019 European Parliament election, EU-wide election to elect the Ninth European Parliament, 9th European Parliament. All 54 seats allocated to Spain ( ...

, Zarzalejos was elected MEP for the 2019–2024 term. In parliament, Zarzalejos is part of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

(EPP) political group. He serves on the

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

(LIBE). In this capacity, he was the parliament’s

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on a 2021 proposal to expand

Europol Europol, officially the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU). Established in 1998, it is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and serves as the central hub for coordinating c ...

’s ability to process large data sets and exchange information with private companies. From 2019 until 2020, Zarzalejos was also a member of the

Committee on Fisheries The Committee on Fisheries (PECH) is a committee of the European Parliament. Chris Davies was the chairman (2019 – 2020) - until the United Kingdom left the European Union. Committee mandate PECH is the European Parliament committee responsi ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, he is part of the parliament's delegation for relations with Canada (D-CA) and the European Parliament Intergroup on Anti-Corruption.Intergroup on Anti-Corruption

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarzalejos, Javier Living people MEPs for Spain 2019–2024 People's Party (Spain) MEPs 1960 births MEPs for Spain 2024–2029