Pedro Cruz Villalón, new president of the European Legal Colloquium Foundation

The Board of Trustees of the Fundación Coloquio Jurídico Europeo has appointed Pedro Cruz Villalón as its new president, succeeding Ernesto Federico Garzón Valdés, the founder of the institution, who held the position until his passing.

Born in Seville in 1946, Cruz Villalón has been a trustee of the Foundation since 2006, playing an active role in its initiatives over the years. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Constitutional Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Throughout his academic career, he has maintained strong ties with leading European institutions such as the Universities of Freiburg and Aix-en-Provence, as well as the Max Planck Institute for Public Law in Heidelberg.

His distinguished institutional career includes having served as President of the Spanish Constitutional Court, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union, and Elective Councillor of Spain’s Council of State. He has received several public honors, including the “15 de Junio” Award from the “España, juntos Sumamos” Foundation and the prestigious ABC–Fundación Cajasol Legal Award.

Cruz Villalón’s academic contributions have earned him the Congress of Deputies Research Award, the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize, and fellowships at institutions such as the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and the Max Planck Institute for Public Law. He has also been part of the Global Constitutionalism Seminar at Yale University.

The Fundación Coloquio Jurídico Europeo aims to foster meaningful personal and intellectual exchange among European legal professionals, encourage dialogue among national legal traditions, and promote European unity through law. To achieve these goals, the Foundation organizes meetings with foreign jurists, debates, and seminars. The proceedings and contributions from these events are published in its official journal, the Cuadernos de la Fundación Coloquio.