Cristina Serrano Leal has been a member of the Senior Corps of State Commercial Technicians and Economists at the Spanish Ministry of Economy since 1994.
With an extensive career in global affairs, international economic relations, trade, and the economy and finance of the European Union, she is currently a Senior Executive Advisor for International Affairs in the Office of the Spanish Minister for Industry and Tourism.
She has been Director-General for International Economic Relations at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, Deputy Director-General for Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Union, and an advisory member at the State Secretariat for the European Union within that ministry.
She has also served as Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU in Brussels, where she participated in the EU Trade Policy Committee.
In her academic capacity, she is the author of the book El presupuesto comunitario: problemas presentes y futuros and more than fifty publications on EU affairs and the international economy. In addition, she has lectured on various courses and master’s programmes at private and public universities (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, UAM, Instituto de Empresa), the Spanish Diplomatic School and the National Institute of Public Administration (Spain).
She holds the Cross of Officer of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, the Cross of Officer of the Order of Civil Merit, and the title of Honorary Commander of the British Empire (COB).
She holds a PhD cum laude in Economics from the UNED and a degree in Economics and Business Studies from the Autonomous University of Madrid, and has furthered her studies at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Harvard University and the University of Oxford.