Born in 1954 in Murcia, Spain, Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso holds a degree in the History of Art from the University of Murcia and began his career as a Professor in History of Art. He moved into politics in 1982 and has been President of the Partido Popular in the Murcia region since 1991. He held the position of President of Murcia for almost 20 years (1995-2014), having won 5 consecutive regional elections with an overwhelming majority. He represented Murcia in the Committee of the Regions for nearly two decades, where he was Vice-President of the EPP Group and President of the Committee of the Regions (2012-2014). In his capacity as Vice-President of the European Parliament, he is responsible inter alia for the Members' Research Service and Library, relations with National Parliaments including particular focus on COSAC and he replaces the European Parliament President in Neighbourhood Policy-related issues (South/EUROMED/Middle East). MEP since 2014.