Völkerverständigung
He left office on 20 December 2011 and left the PSOE's Secretary General chair on 4 February 2012 to Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. On 9 February 2012 he took up a role as a member of the Council of State. He left the Council of State in 2015 in order to become the President of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, a Berlin-based organization trying to foster intercultural relations.