Five prominent personalities from the civil and military spheres have joined the Advisory Council of the Defense Industry Cluster (CID), the consultative body chaired by Admiral General (retired) Fernando García Sánchez, former Chief of Defense Staff (JEMAD).
The new members are Josep Borrell, aeronautical engineer, doctor in Economic Sciences, former Vice-President of the European Commission, former minister and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; and Antonio Fonfría, professor of Applied Economics at the Complutense University of Madrid, associate professor at the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies (IEEE) of the Higher Center for National Defense Studies (CESEDEN) of the Ministry of Defense (MINISDEF), visiting professor at the Naval War Schools of the Navy of Peru and the Army Staff of Brazil, and external consultant for MINISDEF.
Joining them are Jorge Dezcallar, former Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to the USA, the Holy See, and the Kingdom of Morocco, and former Secretary of State Director of the National Intelligence Center (CNI); General (retired) Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, former director of the IEEE (CESEDEN-MINISDEF) and former director of the National Security Department (DSN) of the Presidency of the Government; and Admiral Engineer (retired) Antonio González, former director of Infrastructure of the Navy and current Defense Director of the ACS Group.
As the Cluster has pointed out, all of them put their professional background and knowledge at the service of the foundational principles of the CID, an organization created in 2019, non-profit and of national scope, which currently brings together nearly 140 companies, research and knowledge centers, and public and private entities from all over Spain, with the main purpose of promoting the development of the technological and industrial base linked to Spain's Defense and promoting a culture of defense.
The CID Advisory Council is a collegiate body that currently includes 27 Spanish personalities, both civilian and military, of proven solvency and prestige, committed to collaborating altruistically with the Cluster's objectives by contributing their experience and judgment. It lacks executive functions and acts as the highest consultative body for support and advice to the CID Executive Committee.