Gabriel Mato

Gabriel Mato Adrover (born 29 April 1961) is a Spanish People's Party politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2009.

Biography

Born in Madrid, he graduated in Law from the Autonomous University of Madrid. He then moved to the Canary Islands to be a lawyer for the Cabildo insular (Island Council) of La Palma.[1] In 1995, he was elected to the Parliament of the Canary Islands,[2] and he served as the legislature's president from 2003 to 2007.[1] From 2000 to 2003, he was an elected member of the Congress of Deputies.[3]

He returned to Congress in the 2008 elections, serving until he was elected a Member of the European Parliament in 2009.[4]

In September 2018, the EU voted on Article 7 to remove Hungary's voting rights as a sanction against Viktor Orbán's government. Mato was one of three PP members who broke party lines to vote against sanctions; the PP was abstaining on the vote while its European group, the European People's Party, voted in favour.[5]

Mato was briefly out of office between the 2019 European Union election and the finalisation of Brexit in January 2020, when he was allocated one of the seats vacated by the UK.[6]

Mr. Mato regularly opposes environmental and climate legislation in the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries. In a 2023 report on the Common Fisheries Policy, Mr. Mato wrote that he "regrets that, since 2014, the implementation of the CFP has primarily focused on the environmental aspect of this policy".[7] Mr. Mato has also openly opposed environmental legislation such as the Biodiversity Strategy, the closure of vulnerable marine ecosystems to bottom-trawling, and the Nature Restoration Law.

Personal life

His older sister Ana was also an MEP, for the same party.[2]

Mato is passionate about tennis. He is a qualified umpire who has officiated at the Davis Cup, Wimbledon and Roland Garros.[1][8] He holds the International Tennis Federation's gold badge, the highest qualification for the role.[9]

In 2004, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit by King Juan Carlos I.[10]

References
  1. Alonso, Ángel G. (17 April 2009). ""El juego limpio prima en el deporte pero no siempre es así en política"" ["Fair play comes first in sport but it's not always like that in politics]. La Provincia (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  2. "Del cuñado de Rajoy al hermano de Ana Mato... cuando la política es cosa de familia" [From Rajoy's brother-in-law to Ana Mato's brother... when politics is a family thing]. ABC (in Spanish). 13 July 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  3. "Asier Antona, senador y nuevo secretario nacional de Política Autonómica del PP" [Asier Antona, senator and new national secretary of the PP's autonomous politics]. El Día (in Spanish). EFE. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  4. "Domínguez toma posesión de su acta de diputado en sustitución de Gabriel Mato" [Domínguez takes possession of his role as a deputy in place of Gabriel Mato]. El Día (in Spanish). 25 July 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  5. Tejero Martín, María (12 September 2018). "Golpe al autoritarismo: La Eurocámara pide quitar a Hungría su voto en la UE (sin el PP)" [A blow to authoritarianism: the European Parliament asks to take Hungary's EU vote away (without the PP)]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  6. "Gabriel Mato, entre los nuevos eurodiputados españoles tras el Brexit" [Gabriel Mato, among the new Spanish MEPs after Brexit]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 24 January 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  7. "Draft Report on the state of play in the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy and future perspectives" (PDF). Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  8. Lora, Macarena (18 October 2010). "Gabriel Mato, entre la cancha y el pleno" [Gabriel Mato, between the court and the plenary]. El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  9. "ITF designó los árbitros para el choque de Copa Davis entre Chile y Australia" [ITF designated the officials for the Davis Cup clash between Chile and Australia] (in Spanish). Cooperativa.cl. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  10. "Real Decreto 907/2004, de 23 de abril, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil a don Gabriel Mato Adrover" [Royal Decree 907/2004, of 23 April, which awards the Great Cross of the Order of Civil Merit to Don Gabriel Mato Adrover.] (in Spanish). Boletín Oficial del Estado. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
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