Esteban González Pons

Esteban González Pons (Valencia, Spain, 21 August 1964) is a Spanish politician of the People's Party (PP) who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2014.

Esteban González Pons

MEP
Member of the European Parliament
for Spain
Assumed office
1 July 2014
Member of the Congress of Deputies
In office
2008–2014
ConstituencyValencia
Minister of Culture, Education and Sport in the Valencian Regional Parliament
In office
2003–2007
Member of the Spanish Senate
for Valencia
In office
1993–2003
Personal details
Born
Esteban González Pons

(1964-08-21) 21 August 1964
Valencia, Spain
Political partyPeople's Party (PP)
European People's Party (EPP)

Early life and career

Married, and with three children,[1] González Pons gained a doctorate in law and constitutional rights and practised as a chess player.

Political career
Ballot headed by Esteban González Pons.

Career in national politics

González Pons entered politics in 1993 serving as senator for Valencia province, in the process becoming the youngest member of the senate. He continued in that role until 2003, resigning after being chosen as minister of culture, education and sport in the Valencian regional parliament. He served as the PP spokesman from 2007 until 2008 when he was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies representing Valencia region. He headed the PP list for that election, virtually guaranteeing his election in a district where the PP and predecessors had won at least one seat at every election in the modern Spanish democratic era.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–present

In early 2014, the PP chose González Pons to be party’s number 2 for the European elections, following Miguel Arias Cañete. As Member of the European Parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.

González Pons is also a member of the parliament’s delegations for relations with Israel and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean. In addition to his committee assignments, he is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights;[2] the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights;[3] the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs;[4] and the European Parliament Intergroup on Sports.[5]

When Arias Cañete was nominated as European Commissioner in late 2014, González Pons took over as leader of the Spanish delegation in the EPP Group.[6] In addition, he co-chairs the EPP Justice and Home Affairs Ministers Meeting, alongside German interior minister Thomas de Maizière (until 2018) and Kai Mykkänen (since 2018).[7] He also chairs the EPP’s working group on Brexit.[8]

Within the EPP group, González Pons is one of the deputies of chairman Manfred Weber.[9] In 2021, he was appointed to the group's task force for proposing changes to its rules of procedure to allow for “the possibility of the collective termination of membership of a group of Members rather than just individual membership”, alongside Esther de Lange, Othmar Karas, Jan Olbrycht and Paulo Rangel.[10]

Political positions

Following Brexit, González Pons joined Manfred Weber, David McAllister and Sandra Kalniete in co-signing a letter to President of the European Parliament David Sassoli to establish an EU-UK Joint Parliamentary Assembly.[11]

References
  1. "Biography at Spanish Senate site". Archived from the original on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  2. Members European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights.
  3. Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights European Parliament.
  4. Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on SMEs European Parliament.
  5. Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on Sports European Parliament.
  6. Toby Vogel (September 11, 2014), Departures for Commission open doors for replacement MEPs European Voice.
  7. Council of the EU and Ministerial meetings European People’s Party (EPP).
  8. Ryan Heath (March 9, 2017), The 40 MEPs who matter in 2017: #21 ESTEBAN GONZÁLEZ PONS Politico Europe.
  9. EPP Group re-elects Manfred Weber as Group Chair European People's Party Group (EPP), press release of June 5, 2019.
  10. Mia Bartoloni (January 15, 2021), Movers and Shakers The Parliament Magazine.
  11. Maïa de La Baume (February 5, 2020), Center-right MEPs pitch joint assembly with British parliament Politico Europe.
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