Arancha González Laya

Visiting professor, European Political and Administrative Studies Department

Arancha González Laya was born in Spain in 1969. She holds a degree in law from the University of Navarra and a postgraduate in European Law from the University Carlos III (Madrid). She has extensive practice in international trade and economics. She served as associate with a major German law firm (Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann) in Brussels. In 1996 she joined the European Commission where she held several positions in the area of international trade, including negotiations for trade agreements between the European Communities and Algeria, Iran, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Mercosur. Between 2002 and 2004 she was the European Union spokeswoman for trade and advisor to the EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. Since September 2005 she is Chief of Staff to the World Trade Organisation Director-General Pascal Lamy. She speaks English, French, German and Italian. She enjoys trekking, music and architecture.