Josep Piqué
{{Short description|Spanish politician (1955–2023)}}
{{Family name hatnote|Piqué|Camps|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Josep Piqué
| honorific_suffix =
| honorific_prefix =
| image = Josep Piqué en 2008.jpg
| caption = Piqué in 2008
| order =
| office = Minister of Science and Technology
| monarch = Juan Carlos I
| primeminister = José María Aznar
| term_start = 10 July 2002
| term_end = 3 September 2003
| predecessor = Anna Birulés
| successor = Juan Costa
| office2 = Minister of Foreign Affairs
| order2 =
| monarch2 = Juan Carlos I
| predecessor2 = Abel Matutes
| primeminister2 = José María Aznar
| termstart2 = 27 April 2000
| term_end2 = 10 July 2002
| successor2 = Ana Palacio
| office3 = Spokesperson of the Government
| term_start3 = 16 July 1998
| term_end3 = 27 April 2000
| predecessor3 = Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Bajón
| successor3 = Pío Cabanillas Alonso
| primeminister3 = José María Aznar
| monarch3 = Juan Carlos I
| office4 = Minister of Industry and Energy
| order4 =
| monarch4 = Juan Carlos I
| predecessor4 = Juan Manuel Eguiagaray
| primeminister4 = José María Aznar
| termstart4 = 6 May 1996
| term_end4 = 27 April 2000
| successor4 = {{ubl|Rodrigo Rato (Economy)|Anna Birulés {{awrap|(Science and Technology)}}}}
| office5 = President of People's Party of Catalonia
| predecessor5 = Alberto Fernández Díaz
| successor5 = Daniel Sirera
| term_start5 = 19 October 2002
| term_end5 = 19 July 2007
| birthname = Josep Piqué Camps
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1955|2|21}}
| birth_place = Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2023|4|6|1955|2|21}}
| death_place = Madrid, Spain
| alma_mater = University of Barcelona
| awards =
| spouse = {{marriage|Gloria Lomana|2009}}
| party = PPC
| otherparty = {{ubl|Red Flag|PSUC|Independent}}
}}
Josep Piqué Camps (21 February 1955 – 6 April 2023) was a Spanish politician of the conservative People's Party (PP). He served in ministerial departments under the José María Aznar government. He also helmed the People's Party of Catalonia from 2003 to 2007.
Early life and education
Josep Piqué Camps was born on 21 February 1955 in Vilanova i la Geltrú, province of Barcelona, the son of local politician José Piqué Tetas.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publico.es/politica/pique-antifranquismo-juvenil-abrazar-aznarismo-final.html|title=Piqué, del antifranquismo juvenil a abrazar el aznarismo hasta el final|date=6 April 2023|work=Público|first=Marc|last=Font}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5116666/0/josep-pique-el-economista-y-ministro-de-aznar-que-intento-el-giro-catalanista-del-pp-en-los-tiempos-de-pujol/|title=Josep Piqué, el economista y ministro de Aznar que intentó el giro catalanista del PP en los tiempos de Pujol
|date=6 April 2023|work=20 minutos}} He earned a doctorate in Business and Economics and a Law degree from the University of Barcelona.
Political career
=Early years=
In his youth, and during the last years of the Franco's dictatorship Piqué was a member of extreme left organization Red Flag, and the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.publico.es/espana/mutaciones-ideologicas.html|website=Público|date=2 February 2008|first=Gonzalo|last=López Alba|title=Mutaciones ideológicas}}{{Cite web |date=6 April 2023 |title=Muere el exministro Josep Piqué a los 68 años |url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20230406/8881012/josep-pique-muerte.html |access-date=6 April 2023 |website=La Vanguardia |language=es}}
Piqué was professor at the University of Barcelona between 1978 and 1986, being the tenured professor of Economic Theory from 1984 to 1986.{{Cite web |date=6 April 2023 |title=Josep Piqué, más allá del político y empresario: un hombre analítico que sabía ganarse a la gente|first1=Xavier|last1=Alegret|first2=Rut|last2=Font Camats|url=https://www.economiadigital.es/politica/josep-pique-perfil.html|website=Economía Digital |language=es}}{{Cite web |date=6 April 2023 |title=Ha mort Josep Piqué, alumni i antic professor de la Facultat|url=https://www.ub.edu/portal/web/economia-empresa/detall/-/detall/ha-mort-josep-pique-alumni-i-antic-professor-de-la-facultat|website=University of Barcelona|language=ca}} That year, Piqué was named by Catalan president Jordi Pujol, Director General of Industry, an office he held until 1988 when returned to the private sector.
=Minister of Industry and Energy: 1996–2000=
In view of the 1996 general elections, the leader of the People's Party (PP) and of the opposition José María Aznar wanted to improve his image in Catalonia and get closer to the business community and the Catalan bourgeoisie as it was a decisive territory in electoral terms. So in 1995, through the president of the Catalan employers' association {{ill|Foment del Treball|es}} Joan Rossell, he contacted Josep Piqué.
File:2000-03-12, Josep Piqué y el ministro del Interior en la presentación de los resultados de las elecciones generales del 2000.jpg(left) in 2000]]
After the electoral victory of the PP, José María Aznar, already as Prime Minister, appointed him Minister of Industry and Energy as an independent politician on 5 May 1996, and was sworn the following day.[https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1996/05/06/pdfs/A15709-15709.pdf REAL DECRETO 762/1996, de 5 de mayo, por el que se nombran Ministros del Gobiemo.] {{in lang|es}}[https://www.libertaddigital.com/cultura/historia/2016-02-27/gobierno-aznar-1996-1941316/ Gabinete de Aznar en 1996] {{in lang|es}} His main objective as minister, Piqué remarked that day, would be the reorganization of public enterprise, without ruling out privatization, in order to reduce the public deficit. He also referred to the reorganization of the electricity sector.{{Cite news |date=7 May 1996|title=Reordenar la empresa pública, objetivo de Piqué en Industria
|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1996/05/07/espana/831420011_850215.html|work=El País|language=es}}
Piqué was responsible for the privatizations of large public companies such as Repsol, Telefónica, Endesa and Aceralia.
On 15 July 1998 he was appointed Spokesperson of the Government after rising as one of Aznar's most trusted men.[https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-1998-16940 Real Decreto 1555/1998, de 15 de julio, por el que se dispone que don Josep Piqué i Camps, Ministro de Industria y Energía, asuma las funciones de Portavoz del Gobierno.] {{in lang|es}}
In January 1999, he joined the People's Party, taking a place in its National Executive Committee. .
=Minister of Foreign Affairs: 2000–2002=
In the 2000 general elections, Piqué became member of the Congress of Deputies for the province of Barcelona.
Aznar appointed him, on 27 April, as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, stepping down from the two previous positions he held.[https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2000/04/28/pdfs/A16448-16448.pdf REAL DECRETO 561/2000, de 27 de abril, por el que se nombran Ministros del Gobierno.] {{in lang|es}}
In this capacity, he also steered Spain's foreign policy during its six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.Martin Banks (10 July 2002), [http://www.politico.eu/article/delighted-palacio-lands-top-job-and-quits-as-mep/ 'Delighted' Palacio lands top job and quits as MEP] European Voice.
Piqué maintained a clear atlanticist stance and defended Spain's coalition with the U.S. government that precipitated the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2006 he admitted "very serious mistakes" in the invasion, although he added that the existence of weapons of mass destruction was a conviction shared by everyone.{{Cite news |date=29 September 2006|title=Piqué admite "errores muy serios" en la invasión de Irak|url=https://elpais.com/diario/2006/09/29/espana/1159480812_850215.html|work=El País|language=es|first=Marta|last=Albiñana}}
In the face of the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, Piqué and the Spanish government maintained a position of support to the institutional legality represented by President Hugo Chávez, but did not treat the event as a coup d'état in spite of having mobilized the Ambassador in Venezuela to hold a meeting with Pedro Carmona. On 15 April he supported the return of Chávez as an "opportunity for democracy"{{Cite news |date=15 April 2002|title=Piqué califica la vuelta de Chávez de 'oportunidad para la democracia'|url=https://elpais.com/diario/2002/04/15/internacional/1018821608_850215.html|work=El País|language=es|first=Peru|last=Egurdibe}} In 2004 Piqué assured that they believed that Carmona, at that time, had assumed the position of President of Venezuela when they were aware of a supposed resignation of Chávez.{{Cite news |date=25 November 2004|title=Piqué asegura que en aquel momento creían que Carmona era el presidente|url=https://www.diariodeleon.es/articulo/espana/pique-asegura-momento-creian-carmona-era-presidente/20041125010000747756.html|work=El Diario de León|language=es}}
=Minister of Science and Technology: 2002–2003 =
As part of a cabinet reshuffle, he was replaced by Ana de Palacio y del Valle-Lersundi and instead took over the Ministry of Science and Technology, which oversees the telecommunications industry. At the time, he was thought to have paid the price for failing to resolve the protracted dispute with the UK over the future of Gibraltar.
During his mandate, he developed the Internet law and promoted the General Telecommunications Law.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/07/19/espana/1184867041.html|work=El Mundo|date=19 July 2007|title=Josep Piqué, ministro de Aznar y reacio al 'ala dura' del Partido Popular}}
In those years he already began to be considered as a possible successor to Aznar in the leadership of the national People's Party, but he was finally sent to lead the People's Party of Catalonia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.epe.es/es/activos/20230406/josep-pique-amabilidad-politica-85698924|publisher=Prensa Ibérica|website=El Periódico de España|date=6 April 2023|title=Josep Piqué, la amabilidad de la política|first=Martí|last=Saballs}}
=In Catalonia=
Piqué became president of the People's Party of Catalonia in 2002 and, being a candidate to the Catalan elections of 2003, had the objective of capturing the votes that could be obtained by the ruling Catalanist conservative Convergence and Union party, having maintained a very close relationship with the Catalan establishment. He turned the PP of Catalonia towards a moderate and Catalanist conservative position, further away from the centralism defended by the national PP. In fact, he succeeded in getting the PP to participate in the first negotiations of a new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.
He resigned from this position in July 2007 after disagreement over the political direction that the central PP wanted to impose over the regional branch.[http://www.vilaweb.cat/www/noticia?p_idcmp=2486884&p_edi=badia vilaweb.cat]
Piqué was member of the Parliament of Catalonia between 23 December 2003 and 26 July 2007.{{cite web|title=Excm. Sr. Josep Piqué i Camps|url=https://www.parlament.cat/web/composicio/diputats-fitxa/index.html?p_codi=973&p_legislatura=7|website=Parliament of Catalonia}} During this period of time, between 2003 and 2007, he was also senator appointed by the Catalan Parliament.[https://www.senado.es/web/composicionorganizacion/senadores/composicionsenado/fichasenador/index.html?legis=7&id1=12850 PIQUÉ I CAMPS, JOSEP] {{in lang|es}}[https://www.senado.es/web/composicionorganizacion/senadores/composicionsenado/fichasenador/index.html?legis=8&id1=12850 PIQUÉ I CAMPS, JOSEP] {{in lang|es}}
Business career
File:Isabel Díaz Ayuso en la presentación del libro de David Alvaro " CATALUÑA, La construcción de un relato". (33066662038).jpg (left) and David Alvaro in January 2019]]
He started in the business world in the 1980s, when Macià Alavedra introduced him to the circles of the Spanish subsidiary of the Kuwait Investment Authority group.{{cite book |first1=Josep Manuel |last1=Novoa |first2=Jaume |last2=Reixach |title=Las mil caras de Jordi Pujol. Vida y milagros |publisher=Editorial Tres Tigres |location=Barcelona |date=2003 |page=181}} Previously, he had been appointed chief economist in the research department of La Caixa bank, until 1985.
After his time at the General Directorate of Industry of the Catalan government, Piqué returned to the private sector, when he was called by the businessman Javier de la Rosa to become CEO and president of the chemical company Ercros in 1989. Between 1989 and 1992 he also chaired the company Erkimia. Already involved in the important business and economic circles of Catalonia, Piqué was appointed president, in 1995, of the {{ill|Cercle d'Economia|es}}, until 1996, when he was appointed minister of the Spanish government.
Between November 2007 and 2013, Piqué served as chairman of low-cost carrier Vueling Airlines.
In November 2008, Piqué was co-chair of the Global China Business Meeting 2008 in Madrid.[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/business/worldbusiness/18iht-yuan.4.17940278.html Emerging nations seen as economic lifesavers] The New York Times, 18 November 2008 From November 2008 until June 2009, Piqué served as member of a six-member panel of EU experts advising the Bulgarian government. Set up by Bulgaria's Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, the advisory board was chaired by Dominique de Villepin and mandated to recommend ways to help the country adjust to EU membership.Tony Barber (21 June 2009), [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14e6a054-758d-11de-9ed5-00144feabdc0.html Bulgaria risks shifting into Moscow's orbit, EU is told] Financial Times. In addition, Piqué served on the Political Sponsorship Committee of the Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranéen (IPEMED).[http://www.ipemed.coop/en/ipemed-r21/ipemeds-governance-c71/ Governance] Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranéen (IPEMED), Paris.
In 2009 he launched Pangea21 Consultora Internacional, a small firm in Barcelona to provide consulting services and management advice in all kinds of international business.{{Cite web |title=Almuerzo privado para socios con Josep Piqué |url=https://www.cesur.org.es/almuerzo-provado-con-josep-pique |access-date=6 April 2023 |website=Cesur |language=es}}
Piqué was appointed member of the board of directors of Amadeus IT Group in June 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/empresas/2019-06-19/amadeus-junta-accionistas-josep-pique_2078464/|title=Amadeus nombra consejero independiente al exministro popular Josep Piqué|date=19 June 2019|work=El Confidencial}}
Personal life and death
Piqué married gynaecologist Margarita Montaner, with whom he had three children, but they divorced. In 2009, he married journalist Gloria Lomana.{{Cite web |date=6 April 2023 |title=Muere a los 68 años Josep Piqué, ministro en los gobiernos de Aznar |url=https://www.epe.es/es/actualidad/20230406/josep-pique-muere-68-anos-ministro-aznar-85696005 |website=El Periódico de España |publisher=Prensa Ibérica}}
Piqué died at Hospital 12 de Octubre, in Madrid, on 6 April 2023, at age 68. The funeral service was held at the M-30 mortuary in Madrid the following day.{{cite news|url=https://elpais.com/espana/2023-04-07/la-capilla-ardiente-de-josep-pique-en-imagenes.html|title=La capilla ardiente de Josep Piqué, en imágenes|date=7 April 2023|work=El País}}
Recognition
Piqué's oratory was recognized as sharp and brilliant, and he maintained the policy of dialogue, negotiation and moderate conservatism as the axis of his political mood, as well as defender of the autonomic system. He maintained a profile of a discreet and observant politician.{{Cite news|date=6 April 2023|title=Piqué, el catalanista que pudo liderar el PP|url=https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/pique-catalanista-pudo-liderar-pp_791870_102.html|work={{ill|Crónica Global|es}}|first=María Jesús|last=Cañizares|access-date=11 April 2023|archive-date=15 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415095934/https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/pique-catalanista-pudo-liderar-pp_791870_102.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |date=7 April 2023 |title=Josep Piqué, el ministro que se anticipaba a los cambios|url=https://www.expansion.com/opinion/2023/04/07/642fdd66e5fdea1c4f8b47c6.html|work=Expansión|first=Miriam|last=González Durántez}}
In September 2023, Piqué was posthumously awarded the Premio In Memoriam in the inaugural Premios Vanguardia,{{cite web | title=Entrega de la primera edición de los “Premios La Vanguardia” | website=Castellano | date=18 September 2023 | url=https://casareal.es/ES/Actividades/Paginas/actividades_actividades_detalle.aspx?data=15867 | language=es | access-date=22 December 2024}} presented at the National Museum of Art of Catalonia in Barcelona in 2023 by the King Felipe of Spain.{{cite web | title=Spanish King and Queen attended 'La Vanguardia Awards' ceremony | website=Newmyroyals | date=19 September 2023 | url=https://www.newmyroyals.com/2023/09/spanish-king-and-queen-attended-la.html | access-date=21 December 2024}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110706214919/http://www.barcelonametropolis.cat/en/page.asp?id=21&ui=34 "Missing the Barcelona bourgeoisie", Josep Piqué], Barcelona Metropolis, 2008.
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{{s-bef|before=Abel Matutes}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Foreign Affairs|years=27 April 2000{{spaced ndash}}9 July 2002}}
{{S-aft|after=Ana de Palacio}}
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{{s-bef|before=Alberto Fernández Díaz}}
{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the Partido Popular de Cataluña|years=2003–2007}}
{{S-aft|after=Daniel Sirera}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pique, Josep}}
Category:People from Vilanova i la Geltrú
Category:Industry ministers of Spain
Category:Foreign ministers of Spain
Category:Members of the 7th Parliament of Catalonia
Category:Members of the 8th Parliament of Catalonia
Category:Members of the 7th Congress of Deputies (Spain)
Category:Members of the 7th Senate of Spain
Category:Members of the 8th Senate of Spain
Category:People's Party (Spain) politicians