Josep Borrell is the Spanish candidate to High Representative of the Union for Foreign Policy and Security Policy/Vice-President-designate of the European Commission. He is the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation since 2018. He was a former MEP and President of the European Parliament between 2004 and 2007. He is tasked with increasing Europe’s leadership in the world in a more strategic, assertive and united way, a goal that should be achieved, among other things, through the use of qualified majority voting in order to take faster and more efficient decisions. Another clear objective set by Von der Leyen is the need to take further steps in the building of the European Defence Union. As the HR/VP he will need to consolidate the European External Action Service.  Josep Borrell has a long experience in MENA affairs. He is said to be keen on contributing to the Middle East Peace Process. He will have to deal with the legacy of the JCPOA, on which the EU and the EEAS in particular invested a lot of capital, impose the EU as a meaningful player in the resolution of conflicts in the region including Syria, and manage transactional relationships with countries of the region, such as Turkey or Morocco, on which the EU depends to deal with illegal migration