Francisco Assis

For the Angolan footballer, see Francisco Vicente Assis.

Francisco Assis
File:Francisco Assis (Comissão de Relações Exteriores e Defesa Nacional).jpg Francisco Assis in 2017
Member of the European Parliament for Portugal
Incumbent
Assumed office 16 July 2024
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
In office 20 July 2004 – 13 July 2009
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
In office 26 March 2024 – 15 July 2024
Constituency	Porto
In office 15 October 2009 – 30 June 2014
Constituency	Guarda (2009–2011) Porto (2011–2014)
In office 27 October 1995 – 19 July 2004
Constituency	Porto
Mayor of Amarante
In office 17 December 1989 – 26 October 1995
Preceded by	Joaquim Teixeira
Succeeded by	Armindo Abreu
Personal details
Born	Francisco José Pereira de Assis Miranda (1965-01-08) 8 January 1965 Amarante, Portugal
Political party	Socialist Party (since 1985)
Other political affiliations	Party of European Socialists
Spouse(s)	Vanda Teixeira Pinto
Alma mater	University of Porto
Occupation	Teacher • Politician

Francisco José Pereira de Assis Miranda (born 8 January 1965) is a Portuguese politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Socialist Party. He was part of the Party of European Socialists from 2004 to 2009, and again from 2014 until 2019. He is also a former mayor of Amarante, having been in office from 1989 to 1995, and member of the Assembly of Republic on two occasions, the first from 1995 to 2004 and the second from 2009 to 2014.

Assis was elected a Member of the European Parliament in the 2024 European election, and is expected to be sworn-in in the upcoming Tenth European Parliament.

Political career

Role in national politics

Assis challenged incumbent António José Seguro for the party leadership in 2011. When the right-wing coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho lost its absolute majority in parliament as a result of the 2015 Portuguese legislative election, Assis condemned what he described as "left-wing fantasies" within his own Socialist Party, describing any attempt at an agreement with the Portuguese Communist Party and the Left Bloc as "absurd". On 24 November 2015, Socialist leader António Costa was appointed as Prime Minister after forming a parliamentary alliance with three left-wing parties. Assis publicly voiced his opposition against the new coalition agreement, which he reaffirmed in the context of the 2017 Portuguese local elections and in the aftermath of the October 2017 Iberian wildfires.

Member of the European Parliament (2014–2019)

Ahead of the 2014 European Parliament election in Portugal, the Socialist Party named Assis at the top of their list. Following elections, he became a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Human Rights. He was also the chairman of the parliament's delegation for relations with Mercosur. Assis has been a political commentator for television programmes on TV stations SIC Notícias and TVI 24 and a columnist for the newspaper Público.

External links

• Personal profile of Francisco Assis in the European Parliament's database of members