Ignasi Guardans
Ignasi Guardans i Cambó MEP | |
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Guardans, October 2006 | |
Member of the European Parliament for Barcelona | |
In office 2004–2009 | |
Personal details | |
Born |
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain | 18 May 1964
Political party | Democratic Convergence of Catalonia |
Ignasi Guardans i Cambó (Catalan pronunciation: [iɡˈnazi ɣwərˈðans]; born on 18 May 1964 in Barcelona, Catalonia) is a Spanish former politician, currently an independent figure still present in the Spanish media and public opinion. He started his professional career in the academic and legal research at the University of Navarra, specialising in Private International Law. In 1992 he moved back to Barcelona and started teaching at its then main Law School (Facultat de Dret, Universitat de Barcelona). A few years later he joined a law firm as senior associate lawyer, and for some years he mixed his legal practice with the first steps in a political career. In 1995 he was elected to the Catalan Parliament. But after a few months, in March 2004 he run as candidate for the Spanish Parliament, or Congreso delos Diputados, where he would seat for two consecutive terms, 1996-2000 and 200-2004. He assumed different responsibilities, mostly in the areas of Foreign Affairs, Culture, and Justice & Legal Affairs. During the same period he joined the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its Committee for Legal Affairs and Human Rights. In 2004 he ran as candidate for the European Parliament, heading a joined candidacy of the main parties from Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia called GALEUSCA. As a Member of the European Parliament he joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), and assumed different activities and responsibilities, mostly in the areas of Culture and the online media, Justice & Home Affairs, and International Trade. In 2009, following a strong disagreement with the leadership of his party on the status of Catalonia within Spain, and rejecting to assume Catalonia's full independence as a political goal, he lost the confidence of his party to be promoted again as candidate to the EP. In a surprising decision, a few weeks before the end of the Parliament's Term, he was designated by the Spanish Government as Director General of Spain’s Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA), the Spanish Film Agency. This indirectly included other national and international responsibilities, such as the Presidency of the Audiovisual SGR, or the active Membership of the EFAD, in Europe, or the Conference of Latin American Film Authorities or CAACI in Latin America. His mandate was called to an end in early December 2010. In 2010 he ended his Membership of Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), which he had started in 1992, and has remained an independent figure afterwards. In 2011 he was appointed the first Director for Public Affairs & Member Relations at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU-UER). He later moved to Brussels, to work as an independent consultant. He co-founded CUMEDIAE, a Brussels-based non profit organization specialized in advice and project management in the field of media and the creative sector. In 2014 he joined K&L Gates LLP, a Global Law Firm, as a partner in its Brussels Office.
Anecdotically, Ignasi Guardans was in Mumbai during the 26 November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks,as the Head of a 36 strong European Parliament Delegation. He was not injured.
In the media, Guardans had a regular presence for 12 years at the radio talkshow La Ventana, and for some years at the public television morning show Los desayunos de TVE. Besides that he has been a regular contributor to newspapers such as La Vanguardia, El País and El Periódico de Catalunya.
Education
- Degree in law (University of Navarre)
- Doctorate in law. His PhD research ("tesis doctoral") was a comparative case law study in the impact of so-called third countries mandatory laws, such as embargoes or other compulsory laws on the validity and enforceabiluty of international trade contracts. It was subsequently published in 1992 under the title "Contrato internacional y derecho imperativo extranjero" (Pamplona, Editorial Aranzadi, ISBN 9788470167713)
Career
- 1987-1992: Deputy Director of the European Documentation Centre (Pamplona)
- 1988-1992: Lecturer in private international law, University of Navarre
- 1992-1996: University of Barcelona
- and Abat Oliba Study Centre)
- since 1993: Senior Associate Lawyer (Barcelona)
- 1995: Member of the National Council (Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya
- 1995: Member of the Catalan Regional Parliament Parliament's Official Journal
- 1996-2004: Member of the Spanish Parliament or Congreso delos Diputados for Barcelona
- Spokesman for the CiU party on various committees, including the Joint Committee on the European Union (1996–2004), the Committee on Foreign Affairs (1996–2004) and the Committee on Education and Culture (200-2004)
- 1996-2004: Member of COSAC
- Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
- 1998-2004: Member of the Assembly of the Western European Union
- Member of the ACSAR Foundation, the International Bar Association, the Círculo de Economía and the Center for International Legal Studies' Congress of Fellows, among other social and professional bodies
- 2004-2009: Member of the European Parliament
- 2009-2010: Director General Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales, ICAA, Ministerio de Cultura
- 2011: Director for Public Affairs and Member Relations, EBU/UER
- 2012: Chairman & CEO, Culture&Media Agency Europe - CUMEDIAE
Decorations
- Orden del Mérito Civil, or Order of the Civil Merit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spain
- Chevalier de l'Ordre des Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, France. See: "Les Arts et les Lettres pour Ignasi Guardans, ancien directeur de l’ICAA"
References
Congreso de los Diputados. Diputados de Legislaturas anteriores
External links
- Personal profile of Ignasi Guardans in the European Parliament's database of members
- Declaration (PDF) of financial interests (Spanish)
- Personal blog of Ignasi Guardans (Catalan)
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