João Vacas is a member of the board of directors of the Knowledge Institute. Of Counsel at Abreu Advogados since 2019, works as a legal consultant mainly on issues related to EU and public affairs, research and training.
He has extensive experience in European matters, namely on policy and legislation at the formulation, negotiation and adoption levels and a clear understanding of the interactions with and among EU institutions, Member States, companies, other non-state actors, and citizens.
As a Technical Counsellor of the Portuguese Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, João represented national interests in negotiations within the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER I) and various working groups of the EPSCO – Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs – and the EYCS – Education, Youth, Culture and Sport – configurations of the Council of the EU and took part in the Council’s meetings as a member of the national delegations.
João also led the cabinet of and provided legal and political advice to Members of the European Parliament on all their parliamentary duties, including Constitutional affairs, Development, and Foreign Affairs committees and the Human Rights subcommittee’s activities, focusing also on Portuguese-speaking countries and territories and their relationship with the EU.
As an Invited Professor of the Institute for Political Studies of the Portuguese Catholic University, he initiated and teaches the BA course “Portugal and the EU”.
While working as a lawyer, João’s main area of practice was intellectual and industrial property, mainly disputes in connection with cases relating to the validity of trademark rights.