Carlos Bastarreche

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Graduated in law and with a diploma in international studies, he joined the diplomatic service in 1976.^[1]

In his early years, he served as secretary at the Consular and Commercial Representation in Romania, secretary at the Spanish Mission to the European Communities, and advisor to the Secretary of State for the European Communities.^[1]

He subsequently served as deputy director-general of European Coordination for Institutional Relations (1985)^[1] and, later, as director-general for European Legal and Institutional Coordination (1990).^[2]

He was dismissed in December 1995 and in May 1996 he was appointed Secretary-General for Foreign Policy and European Union^[3] and, between 2000 and 2002, he was Secretary-General for European Affairs.^[4] At the end of this last year he was rewarded for his services with the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic.^[5]

He was immediately sent back to Brussels, this time as Ambassador Permanent Representative of Spain to the European Union, serving for eight years until September 2010, the longest term since Alberto Ullastres between 1965 and 1976 and doubling the average for most ambassadors, which is usually four years.^[6] During this period he actively participated in the Convention on the Future of Europe, being rewarded with the Medal of the Order of Constitutional Merit.^[7]

In September 2010 he was appointed ambassador to the French Republic and, although he had some disagreements with the secretary of state Diego López Garrido, which predicted his dismissal,^[6] he remained in office until May 2014. Since November 2013, he also served as the first ambassador of Spain to the Principality of Monaco, with residence in Paris.^[8] After his time in the French capital, he was hired by Airbus as director of institutional relations for Spain.^[9]

In January 2017 the Council of Ministers dismissed, after five years, Federico Trillo from the Embassy of Spain, London. In the same meeting, the government also gave the go-ahead to request the British authorities' approval for his replacement, Bastarreche,^[10] which was granted the following month. Despite reaching legal retirement age in November 2020, the government kept him in office until February 2021 because, according to the then secretary of state, Juan González-Barba Pera, "if it hasn't been done so far, it's because it's a vital embassy. We want to see how Brexit and the negotiations over Gibraltar end".^[11]

After retiring from the diplomatic career, he is an external advisor to the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) and the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA), the main banking sector associations.^[12]