Mateo Sorinas nieuwe SG Parlementaire Assemblee per 1 februari 2006 (en)

Strasbourg, 04.10.2005 - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in plenary in Strasbourg, today unanimously elected Mateo Sorinas Balfegó as Secretary General of the Assembly for a five-year term, beginning on 1 February 2006.

Mr Sorinas was born in Tarragona (Spain) on 13 March 1946. After obtaining a master's degree in physical sciences from Complutense University, Madrid in 1968, he worked as a teacher in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, where he was a member of the executive committee of the Teachers' Union.

In 1978, he was among the first Spanish civil servants to be recruited to the Council of Europe, following the restoration of democracy in Spain and its accession to the Council of Europe.

Since then, he has worked his way up through the Parliamentary Assembly Secretariat, serving on the Environment, Migration and Political affairs committees, and also in the President's Private Office, as a political adviser. In 1994, he was in charge of General Services, before being appointed, in 1997, Head of the Political and Legal Affairs Department. Since 2002, he has been Director General.

The Secretary General of PACE ensures the smooth running of the Assembly, follows up its decisions and co-ordinates the work of the committees.

Curriculum vitae

Contact:

Communication Unit of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

Tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93 Fax +33 3 90 21 41 34; e-mail: pace.com@coe.int