Mr Pedro Solbes Mira was appointed Spain's Finance Minister in April 2004, succeeding Javier Arenas Bocanegra. At the same time he became the EIB Governor for Spain.
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Finance, Mr Solbes Mira became Secretary of State for relations with the European Community in 1985. In 1991, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and from 1993 to 1996 he served as Minister of the Treasury. In this role, he chaired the Ecofin Council during the Spanish Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 1995. In the general elections of March 1996, Mr Solbes Mira was elected member of parliament for Alicante province and was Chairman of the Joint Committee on the European Union in the Spanish Parliament. Mr Solbes Mira was also appointed European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs in 1999.
Mr Solbes Mira was born in Pinoso (Alicante) on 31 August 1942. He has a doctorate in political sciences, a degree in law from Complutense University in Madrid and a diploma in European economics from the Université Libre in Brussels.