Pilar del Castillo

Pilar del Castillo Vera (Nador, Morocco, 31 July 1952) is a Spanish politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2004. She previously served as Minister for Education, Culture and Sport in the government of Prime Minister José María Aznar from 2000 to 2004.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Del Castillo and the second or maternal family name is Vera.
Pilar del Castillo
Minister of Education, Culture and Sport
In office
27 April 2000 – 18 April 2004
Prime MinisterJosé María Aznar
Preceded byMariano Rajoy
Succeeded byMaría Jesús San Segundo
Personal details
Born (1952-07-31) 31 July 1952
Nador, Morocco
Died≈
Political partyPeople's Party
Alma materTechnical University of Madrid
Ohio State University
Complutense University of Madrid

Early life and education

Law graduate at Complutense University of Madrid, 1974. In 1980 she was granted a Fulbright Scholarship for a master's degree in political science at Ohio State University, United States. PhD in law from Complutense University of Madrid, 1983. Awarded the Spanish Sociological Research Centre Prize for the doctoral thesis 'Political Party Funding in Western Democracies', 1984.

Career

In 1986, Del Castillo became assistant professor in constitutional law at UNED, and professor in political science and administration in 1994. Editor-in-chief of the Journal Nueva Revista de Política, Cultura y Arte, 1995–1996. Director of the Spanish Sociological Research Centre, 1996 to 2000. She is author of numerous publications on political parties and electoral behaviour.

Political career

Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, 2000–2004

When Prime Minister José Maria Aznar led his conservative Popular Party to a victory and second term of office at the 2000 national elections, he made Del Castillo his new Minister of Education, Culture and Sport.[1] In this capacity, she was in charge of implementing the government's 2001 plan to overhaul the country's public universities; the law prompted the largest student demonstrations since Spain's transition to democracy, with an estimated 100,000 students, university staff protesting nationwide on 1 December 2001.[2]

Member of the European Parliament, 2004–present

Del Castillo has been a Member of the European Parliament since the 2004 European elections. She has since been serving as coordinator for the Group of the European People's Party in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), and as substitute member in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). From 2007 to 2009, she was a member of the Temporary Committee on Climate Change. In addition, she was a member of the EP Delegation for Relations with India (2009–2014) and of the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China (2004–2009). She represented the Parliament at the 2008 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznań[3] and the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.[4] In 2020, she also joined the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age.[5]

In her capacity as member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Del Castillo is the parliament's rapporteur on the European Union’s Data Act.[6] She also served as rapporteur on the Directive on Security of Networks and Information Systems (NIS); the Regulation on the Body of European Regulators in Electronic Communications (BEREC); on the Cloud Computing Strategy for Europe;[7] and on a telecoms single market.[8][9]

In addition to her committee assignments, Del Castillo holds the following positions in the European Parliament:

  • European Energy Forum (EEF), member
  • European Internet Foundation, chairwoman
  • European Parliament Intergroup on Disability, member[10]
  • Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN), member
  • Knowledge4Innovation (K4I), member of the board

Other activities (selection)

Personal life

Del Castillo is passionate about art; her official ministerial portrait in the gallery of the Ministry of Education is a self-portrait.

References
  1. New reins for Spain Variety, 28 April 2000.
  2. Emma Daly (2 December 2001), In Spain, Thousands Protest New Plans for Universities New York Times.
  3. Jennifer Rankin (26 November 2008), MEPs flock to Poznań meeting European Voice.
  4. The EP's official delegation to the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change European Parliament.
  5. Members of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age European Parliament, press release of 9 July 2020.
  6. Foo Yun Chee (10 February 2023), EU lawmakers' body agrees on safeguards against illegal data transfers Reuters.
  7. 2016 Speakers: Pilar del Castillo Archived 25 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Mobile World Congress.
  8. Sarah Laitner (2 April 2008), Fresh obstacle to Reding's plan for telecoms 'super' regulator Financial Times.
  9. Toby Vogel (11 September 2014), Committees choose rapporteurs European Voice.
  10. Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on Disability European Parliament.
  11. Pilar del Castillo Archived 6 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine European Network for Women in Leadership (WIL).
  12. Advisory Board Fundación Botín.
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