Stavros Dimas (Greek: Σταύρος Δήμας, Greek pronunciation: [ˈstavros ˈðimas]; born 30 April 1941) is a Greek politician who was European Commissioner for the Environment from 2004 to 2009. From November 2011 to May 2012, he served in the government of Greece as Minister for Foreign Affairs. The New Democracy–PASOK coalition government nominated him for the post of President of Greece in December 2014, but he failed to achieve the necessary votes, forcing the dissolution of parliament.
Stavros Dimas was born in 1941 in the village of Klenia, Corinthia. Dimas studied law at the University of Athens and went on to earn a Master of Laws from New York University.
In 1968 he began working as a lawyer for a firm on Wall Street, moving to the World Bank the following year, where he worked on investments in Africa and the Middle East. In 1975 he returned to Greece to take up the post of deputy governor of the Hellenic Industrial Development Bank (ETVA), while also being a member of the committee preparing Greek accession to the EEC.
From 1977 he was active in Greek politics as a member of the conservative New Democracy party, being elected as an MP on the nationwide list. He was elected to the Greek parliament ten consecutive times that year.
He went on to hold a variety of ministerial and other political positions:
Deputy Minister of Economic Coordination (28 November 1977 – 10 May 1980)
Minister of Trade (10 May – 11 October 1980)
Minister without Portfolio (11 October 1980 – 21 October 1981)
Parliamentary spokesperson for the New Democracy party (October 1985 – June 1989)
Minister of Agriculture (2 July – 12 October 1989)
Minister of Agriculture (23 November 1989 – 13 February 1990)
Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology (11 April 1990 – 29 July 1991)
Secretary-General of New Democracy (1995–2000)
Senior Member of the Political Analysis Steering Committee of New Democracy (2000–2003)
Head of the New Democracy delegation to the Council of Europe (2000–2004)
Dimas served briefly in the Prodi Commission. He was appointed European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs in March 2004, taking over the role from the previous Greek Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou. A major focus of his work during this time involved making it more difficult for states to opt out of the Working Time Directive. The Greek government nominated Dimas for the incoming Barroso Commission which took office on 22 November 2004.
In a speech to a committee of the European Parliament Dimas announced four main priorities for his term in office: climate change, biodiversity, public health, and sustainability. He emphasised the importance of the Kyoto Protocol, the Natura 2000 project, the REACH directive, and the need to better enforce existing EU environmental legislation.
Concerns were raised in advance by MEPs and many NGOs that by appointing a former Wall Street lawyer and industry minister to the environment post the EU had signalled a decreased commitment to environmental issues in favour of promoting economic competitiveness. However, after some months time, the environment unions quickly endorsed his programme and publicly congratulated him for being able to support the positions of the environmental organizations with great success within the commission. Dimas' role was vital especially since the President, Mr Barroso, was ready to disregard the effects on the environment due to the need to improve economic development.