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O Novo Paradigma do Investimento Imobiliário (2011)

Vento Suão: Portugal e a Europa (2020)

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CARLOS

MOEDAS

MEET CARLOS

Passionate about innovation, Carlos Moedas has built a career spanning business, national government, European institutions and local politics. Known for his approachable and pragmatic style, he has consistently placed innovation, science and public service at the heart of his work. After a very difficult period in the Portuguese government, he went on to serve at the highest levels of European policymaking as European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. The young boy from Beja has since accumulated some of the most rewarding — and challenging — experiences of his career, while remaining deeply connected to Portugal.

Carlos was born and raised in Beja, a city in Alentejo. Carlos has one sister, his mother worked at a nursery and his father – “Zé Moedas” – was a respected Communist in Beja and co-founder of the newspaper Diário do Alentejo. Carlos’ childhood was deeply marked by politics: he attended political and party assemblies and riots with his father. He lived a childhood and adolescence with very strong experiences: before the 25 April Revolution, his father almost went to jail for his ideology and received numerous threats, including death threats. Carlos never shared his father’s political views: he understood it when he started reading about the Soviet Union and realized that something was not right in that system.

From an early age he realized that, because he could not be physically differentiated (he didn’t like sports, football, etc), it was better for him to study – it always gave him great pleasure. He decided to enroll in Civil Engineering, at Instituto Superior Técnico de Lisboa. The university environment was very politicized but Carlos only had the will to travel. It was on a field trip to France that he decided to do Erasmus at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris – this was possible with the support of a teacher who punched the table saying “O Sr. Moedas é de Beja, nunca viu o mundo e tem de ir ver o mundo!” (Mr Moedas is from Beja, he has never seen the world and must go out and see it!).

It was a turning point in Carlos Moedas’ life: the experience opened up an entirely new world to him. After ending his degree, he decided to stay in Paris and started working at Suez Group, but some years later had to return to Portugal to fulfill his military service: a difficult time, but one that taught him important lessons about rigour and discipline. Later on, he decided to study again, this time pursuing an MBA at Harvard Business School. He discovered that in the USA he could access better conditions to invest in his education, whereas in Europe he had encountered greater limitations and restrictions. After graduating, he built a career in finance and investment banking, working with institutions including Goldman Sachs and Eurohypo Investment Bank.

It was when he was back in Portugal working in real estate and serving as chief economic advisor to the Partido Social Democrata (PSD) that he was challenged by Pedro Passos Coelho, then Prime Minister of Portugal, to join the government in 2011, being responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Troika Memorandum of Understanding. This was one of the most difficult periods of his life. His most unpopular moment was his public response to the IMF report that proposed drastic cuts in salaries and pensions, which led several people to ask for Carlos’ resignation.

After these rough times, Carlos was appointed European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. He ended his mandate in 2019, having managed the European Union’s €77 billion research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020, and helped shape the proposal for Horizon Europe, its €100 billion successor. During his mandate, he also launched the European Innovation Council, designed to support breakthrough innovation and help European innovators turn ambitious ideas into scalable projects.

His influence in Brussels was recognised by POLITICO, which highlighted his significant role in shaping and allocating European research and innovation funding and his position at the intersection of governments, universities, researchers and businesses.

After completing his mandate as European Commissioner in 2019, Carlos returned to Portugal and joined the Board of Trustees of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A new chapter in public life began in 2021, when he was elected Mayor of Lisbon. Four years later, he was re-elected for a second term, continuing a political journey shaped by some of the themes that have long defined his career: innovation, science, openness and public service. Today, he leads Portugal’s capital with an ambition to strengthen Lisbon as a city of innovation, culture and social progress, bringing his international experience back to the local level.