Joaquín Almunia is one of the most internationally experienced Spanish politicians and a strong advocate of the European Union project, an institution for which he worked for fourteen years. He served as Vice President and European Commissioner for Competition from 2010 to 2014, after having been European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs from 2004 to 2010.

A key figure in Spanish social democracy since the Transition, he was Minister of Labor and Social Affairs (1982-1986) and Minister of Public Administration (1986-1991) under the government of Felipe González, and a candidate for the presidency in the 2000 general elections before beginning his European career.

In April 2004, he was appointed a member of the European Commission. As European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, he had to face the outbreak of the most severe economic and financial crisis that the European Union had ever encountered. In 2010, the President of the European Commission, the Portuguese José Manuel Durão Barroso, entrusted him with a vice-presidency and the leadership of the Competition portfolio, from which he maintained his institutional commitment to Europe.

After leaving his positions in the European Union, Almunia leveraged his long career and experience to focus on research and reflection within the context of various think tanks and other platforms, as well as delivering lectures, writing books, and contributing articles to different media outlets.