Ana Palacio, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Ana Palacio is an international lawyer specializing in international, European Union law y arbitration. She is the Founding Partner of the law and public affairs firm Palacio y Asociados.

She is currently a member of the Boards of Enagás (Spanish gas system), Pharmamar (biotechnology), and AEE Power (energy infrastructure), as well as of the International Advisory Boards of Investcorp (a world-leading manager of alternative investments) and Office Chérifien des Phosphates – OCP – (fertilizers); and of the Governing Council of the Instituto de Empresa (business school). She is a member of the Board and of the Executive Committee of the Atlantic Council of the United States. Further, Ms. Palacio serves as member of the External Advisory Board of the US former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz’s Energy Futures Initiative, of the Advisory Board of the Sandra Day O’Connor Justice Prize, of the Board of Trustees of the United Sates – Spain Council and of the Institute for Human Sciences, as well as of the Scientific Council of Elcano Royal Institute. She has recently been appointed as a member of the Global Leadership Foundation.

Between 1994 and 2002, Ms. Palacio was a Member of the European Parliament, where she chaired the Legal Affairs and Internal Market Committee as well as the Citizens Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committee. She participated as member of the Presidium of the Convention for the Future of Europe (2001-2003) in the debate and drafting of the European Constitution. In 2002, Ms. Palacio became the first woman to serve as Foreign Affairs Minister of Spain (2002-2004). She was a Member of the Spanish Parliament (2004 to 2006), where she chaired the Joint Committee of the Two Houses for European Union Affairs. She has been Senior Vice- President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group and Secretary General of ICSID (2006-2008), and she has been a member of the Executive Committee and Senior Vice- President for International Affairs of AREVA (2008-2009). She was elected as a Member of the Council of State of Spain from April 2012 to October 2018.

Ms. Palacio publishes regularly in periodicals and journals. In particular, she maintains a monthly column at Project Syndicate and she is a recurrent participant and speaker at international conferences and fora. In addition, she is a visiting professor at the Edmund E. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

She holds degrees in law, political science and sociology with honors. She has received numerous awards and decorations, including Officer at the Order of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Georgetown University and the 2016 Sandra Day O’Connor Justice Prize acknowledging extraordinary contributions to the rule of law.