European Parliament approves appointment of Bulgaria’s Maria Gabriel as European Commissioner
In a secret ballot vote in the European Parliament on July 4, MEPs approved the appointment of Bulgaria’s Maria Gabriel as European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society.
Out of 683 MEPs, a total of 517 voted in favour, surpassing the threshold of two-thirds support required for approval of the appointment.
There were 77 votes against and 89 abstentions.
Gabriel, an MEP for the past eight years for Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s centre-right GERB party, was nominated in May 2017 to succeed to the Bulgarian vacancy on the Commission created after the resignation of Kristalina Georgieva took effect at the end of 2016.
The 37-year-old becomes the youngest member of Jean Claude-Juncker’s European Commission that will remain in office until 2019.
The vote in the 751-member European Parliament follows a hearing of Gabriel at a joint sitting of two EP committees on June 20, which was followed by a report indicating majority support for her confirmation as a member of the Commission.
/Politics
