Joaquín Almunia is Chairman of the Board of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), and Honorary President of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. He is a Visiting Professor at PSIA - Sciences-Po where he teaches a masters course on EU Competition Policy. He has been a member of the Spanish Government, as minister of Labour and Social Security (1982-1986) and minister for Public Administration (1986-1991); member of the Spanish Parliament (1979-2004); and leader of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) (1997-2000). From April 2004 to October 2014, he has been a member of the European Commission, in charge of the portfolio of Economic and Monetary Affairs, and since February 2010 as Vice-President and Commissioner in charge of Competition Policy. He holds Degrees in Economics (1971) and Law (1972) at the University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain). Recently, he published his last book: “Ganar el futuro. Cómo la Unión Europea y la socialdemocracia pueden salir juntas de sus crisis” (“Winning the future. How the EU and social democracy can overcome together their crises”) Taurus, 2018. Born in Bilbao (Spain) on 17 June 1948.