Ana Vasconcelos Martins

Ana Vasconcelos Martins MEP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the European Parliament for Portugal
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 July 2024
Personal details
Born	Ana Vasconcelos Martins (1985-03-14) 14 March 1985 (age 40) Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal
Political party	Liberal Initiative (2019–present)
Other political affiliations	ALDE (2024–present)
Alma mater	Catholic University of Portugal University of Oxford
Occupation	Jurist • Political scientist • Politician

Ana Vasconcelos Martins (born 14 March 1985) is a Portuguese jurist, political scientist and politician of the Liberal Initiative who was elected member of the European Parliament in 2024 ^[1] .

Biography

Personal life

Martins was born on Terceira Island ^[2] in 1985, has lived in Lisbon since the age of 7 and now divides her life between Lisbon and Brussels. ^[3]

Academia

Catholic University of Portugal

She studied law and political science at the Catholic University of Portugal (UCP) and was a research assistant and publications manager at UCP's Institute for Political Studies. ^{[4] [5]}

University of Oxford

At the University of Oxford she read for the degree in Political Theory at St Anthony's College, with a particular interest in democratic checks on political power in the Digital Age. As a research associate of the Dahrendorf Programme at Oxford, she contributed to the Europe's Stories Project whose podcast she also managed and co-hosted. She was a Europaeum Scholar, researching perceptions of democratic participation and belonging in the European Union. ^[5]

Politics

Entry into Politics

She was the lead candidate of Liberal Initiative (IL), as an independent, for the Azores constituency in the 2019 legislative election. ^[4] After joining the party, Martins served as a vice president of IL between 2023 and 2025 on the team of Rui Rocha. ^[6] During this period she headed the party's Policy Research unit, the ILab. ^[7]

European Parliament

For the 2019 European Parliament election, she was an independent candidate in fourth place on the party's list. ^{[8] [9]} In 2024 she was elected a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for IL as the second name in a list headed by the party's former leader João Cotrim Figueiredo. ^[9] As her party is a full member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), she caucuses with the Renew Europe parliamentary group. ^{[10] [11]}

EP Committees and Delegations

Martins is a full member of the standing Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety as well as a member of the Delegation to the EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly. ^{[12] [13]} Martins is also a member of the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology and is a substitute member of the standing Committee on Transport and Tourism. ^{[13] [14]}

References

1. ""Freed from Desire". IL chega de Smart a Bruxelas, Cotrim ao volante, Ana Martins à pendura" (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. 10 June 2024.
2. "Strona główna | Ana VASCONCELOS | Posłowie do PE | Parlament Europejski". www.europarl.europa.eu (in Polish). 1985-03-14. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
3. "Soldados na Ucrânia? "Temos de admitir a possibilidade"". Público (in Portuguese). 2 June 2024.
4. "Ana Martins é cabeça de lista da Iniciativa Liberal pelo círculo dos Açores". Açoriano Oriental (in Portuguese). 13 August 2019.
5. "Dahrendorf programme at the European studies centre" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-06-19.
6. "Iniciativa Liberal dá segundo lugar aos Açores na lista das Europeias". Açoriano Oriental (in Portuguese). 23 April 2024.
7. Observador, Agência Lusa. "IL tem novo gabinete de estudos e aposta em conselho consultivo com ex-governantes, ex-CDS e independentes". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-02-12.
8. "Europeias 2019 - Candidatos". www.eleicoes.mai.gov.pt. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
9. "Eleições europeias. Quem são os 21 eurodeputados portugueses eleitos?" (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 10 June 2024.
10. "Our members in Portugal". ALDE Party. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
11. "Iniciativa Liberal". Renew Europe. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
12. "Members | Home | ENVI | Committees | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
13. "Home | Ana VASCONCELOS | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 1985-03-14. Retrieved 2025-02-12.
14. "Members | Home | Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2025-02-12.