Arancha and Cristina, two go-getters at the head of Spanish diplomacy
(B2) Spain has two leading women to lead its diplomacy. Two leading women who have Europe in their hearts and have been able to weave, in Brussels and around the world, solid networks, one alongside Pascal Lamy, the other alongside Javier Solana. A great asset for the Sánchez government
The new Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) with the left of Podemos was put in place at the beginning of January (read: The regal ministers of the Sánchez II government) and the various secretaries of state were only known last week.
Arancha González Laya, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs
The new Spanish foreign minister is well known at European and international level, where she served for several years in the inner circle of a demanding man, the French socialist Pascal Lamy. She knew how to weave a network there which will be very useful to the Spanish government to promote its policy of raising Madrid definitively to the rank of the 'Great' Europeans, taking advantage of the British departure.
Originally from the Spanish Basque Country, born in 1969, Arancha González Laya graduated in law from the University of Navarre and the University Carlos III in Madrid. She also began her career in this field, as a partner at the law firm Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann (now Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) from 1994 to 1996.
After passing the competition for European civil servants, she joined the services of the European Commission, at DG Commerce (Trade), in particular. A favorite area that she never really left, becoming one of the best specialists and activists in foreign trade policy. In June 2002, she became spokesperson and member of the cabinet of the French commissioner in charge of trade, Pascal Lamy. It was Pierre Defraigne (the Frenchman's chief of staff at the time) who introduced him. She then becomes not only his spokesperson, but is part of the commissioner's inner circle, regularly accompanying him throughout his travels.
After a short return to DG Trade, as deputy head of unit in charge of trade relations with Latin America, the Gulf, Iran, and generalized systems of preferences (November 2004 - August 2005), she joined her boss in Geneva, when he was appointed Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in September 2005. She remained at his side as chief of staff, was his sherpa for eight years and acted as a representative of the WTO to the G20, until the latter's departure in August 2013, where she became director of the International Trade Center (ICC).
She has woven her network throughout her meetings where everyone tried to set up a regulation of world trade. The meetings in Davos, at the G20 or elsewhere, allowed him to get to know a number of trade and economy ministers on several different continents. Some of his former co-religionists have also risen in rank, such as French President Emmanuel Macron, then Sherpa for François Hollande in G20 meetings.
His knowledge of files is not due to chance, or to his sole ability to grasp a situation quickly. It's a " hard worker, night and day “testify his relatives. His mastery of the technical aspects, like his ability to explain them simply, was impressive. And it was not uncommon that during the interviews that Pascal Lamy had, more or less regularly, with journalists, that he turned to Arancha, seeing that his somewhat techno language did not penetrate the 'little heads' journalists saying: good Arancha will explain to you ". She often arrived there with grace, always with a warm smile. This made it possible to make the realities less difficult. Arancha” manages to illustrate complex things wonderfully explains a former collaborator.
Cristina Gallach, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Latin America and the Caribbean
Cristina Gallach will be the number 2 of the ministry. Everything that has been said about Arancha, one could almost reproduce, word for word. She too is a hard worker and has acquired a solid relational network at European level, but even more at international level. She is to security and diplomacy what Arancha is to international trade, a recognized specialist, good communicator and very human.
Born in 1960, graduated from Columbia University in New York and in journalism and communication from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Cristina started out as a journalist. A position she held for fifteen years for TVE Barcelona, first from 1983 to 1984, then correspondent in the United States for the daily Avui (1984-1986), she returned to Barcelona for El Periódico from 1986-1990. She then explored the international field for the Spanish press agency EFE, first in Moscow (1990-1992) then in Brussels (1993-1996). A profession that fascinates her. She has nurtured a great respect for this profession, regardless of its level.
In 1996, she left the journalistic boards to go to the other side of the barrier becoming deputy spokesperson for NATO and media adviser to the Spanish socialist Javier Solana, then secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance until 1999. Naturally , she follows her boss when he becomes, thanks to the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the first High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, to the Council of the EU.
For ten good years, Cristina will be the female counterpart of Javier Solana. She is not a simple spokesperson, but an informal right-hand man, capable of interpreting or even completing the words of the 'chief', of giving journalists the keys to understanding the whole complicated context in which the chief of European diplomacy. Between the two, there was a real symbiosis and mutual respect. She attends all cabinet meetings, even the most discreet ones. This allows him to refine over time, a real political sense. A knowledge that allows him, those who question him, journalists and others, to give all the keys, all the elements to understand.
Crisis issues abound. Between Kosovo and the Balkans, the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue (which began at this time), the hopes for a peace process in the Middle East, it was also the start of European diplomacy and the first steps of the ESDP (European Security and Defense Policy) missions and operations. It tinkers day by day. But the enthusiasm of some, the precision of others allow the Europeans to make their way.
When Solana leaves, High Representative Cathy Ashton refuses to give her any role (1). She first became the head of the EU Council's public relations unit, in charge of public diplomacy, but returned to New York in December 2014, becoming deputy secretary general in charge of communication and information from the Korean Ban Ki-Moon. Position she held for three years until the appointment of António Guterres. After a short stay in Brussels, she returned to Spain called to take charge of Agenda 2030 in the government of Pedro Sánchez. She is married and has two adopted children.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
- A mistake that she will reproduce with many people from the Solana team. This will undoubtedly explain its difficulty in expressing a certain legitimacy.
