José Manuel Barroso to discuss Europe in the New World Order

September 17, 2014. New Haven, CT—José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission of the European Union, will visit the campus to give a lecture on Monday, Sept. 22.

Barroso’s talk, titled “Europe in the New World Order,” will be held at 3 p.m. in the Beinecke Terrace Room, Edwards P. Evans Hall, 165 Whitney Ave. It is sponsored by the Yale Program in European Union Studies, the European Studies Council at the MacMillan Center, and the Yale School of Management. The talk is free and open to the public.

In 1980, Barroso joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was first elected to the Portuguese parliament in 1985 and was re-elected six times. In 1999, he was elected president of the PSD and was re-elected three times. During the same period, he served as vice president of the European People’s Party. In 1991, while Barroso was serving as state secretary for foreign affairs and cooperation, he played a key role as mediator of the peace accords for Angola in Bicesse (Estoril, Portugal). As minister for foreign affairs Barroso launched the talks with the Indonesian minister of foreign affairs — under the auspices of the secretary general of the United Nations — that ultimately led to the independence of East Timor.

Under Barroso’s leadership, the PSD won the general election in 2002. He was appointed prime minister of Portugal in April of that year, and remained in office until 2004 when he was nominated by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament to the post of president of the European Commission. In 2009, the European Council unanimously nominated him for a second term as president of the European Commission, and he was re-elected by a majority in the European Parliament.

Barroso has also served in several international missions, including as head of the IDEA delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina and adviser to the United Nations in projects for Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Contact Information:

Marilyn Wilkes

The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale

(203) 432-3413