Fitxa persona

María Jesús García is a Full Professor at the University of Valencia. After completing her Law degree, she was awarded a doctoral research scholarship by the Spanish Ministry of Education and subsequently earned her PhD in Law from the University of Valencia. Her primary areas of expertise are Public Law and European Union Law.

She has served as a Substitute Magistrate at the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, within the Administrative Litigation Chamber.

She holds the Jean Monnet Chair "Services of General Economic Interest in the framework of social and territorial integration".

She also leads the Jean Monnet Module "Citizens’ integration into European Union democracy," both awarded by the European Commission in 2021. Additionally, she is a teaching member of the JM Module “Communicating EU for Participating” (COMEU4PAR), coordinated by the Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro.

In the international sphere, she serves as an expert for the European Union Executive Agency, evaluating proposals under the Horizon Europe programs. In 2026, she was appointed as a member of the Consumer Policy Advisory Group by the European Commission.

María Jesús García was a Visiting Professor at Harvard University in 2017 and is a member of the Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard, an institution from which she received a scholarship for a research stay. In 2014, following a teaching and research stay, she received the honorary appointment of Visiting Fellow at The Open University Law School (UK). She has delivered seminars and lectures at both Harvard University and various European universities.

She has been awarded four positive research assessments by the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI).

Professor García is the author of seven books, including:

• The Legal Regime of Urban Rehabilitation (1999)
• Conservation of Historic Buildings through Urban Planning and Rehabilitation Techniques (2000)
• Preventive Techniques for Environmental Protection in the Use of Public Water Resources (2001)
• Community Service Sanctions in Civil Coexistence Ordinances (2014)

• Citizens’ Participation in European Union Lawmaking in the Frame of Smart Regulation (2020)
• The Basics of Spanish Administrative Law (2020, published in English)
• The European Union in 100 Diagrams and 10 Metaphors.

She was the leading author of the book European Democracy and the Single Market: 30 Years of the Maastricht Treaty (Aranzadi, 2024) and authored the popular science book I, the European Union (Tecnos, 2024). Her research has been extensively published in specialized journals, focusing on participatory democracy, smart regulation, and European citizenship status.

Awards and Recognitions

• 2023: Gabilex Award (Castilla-La Mancha Legal Department) for her work on consumer protection in services of general economic interest.
• 2019: Blas Infante Award for Study and Research in Public Administration and Management.
• 2019: Finalist for the Center for Financial Studies (CEF) Award (Constitutional and Administrative Law category).
• 2012: Melchor Almagro Legal Studies Award for her research on minor liability and community service sanctions.
• 2010: Local Studies Award for her work on popular regulatory initiatives in local government.