Von der Leyen nominates Bulgaria’s Zaharieva to be European Commissioner for startups, research and innovation
Announcing the line-up of her proposed second European Commission on September 17, EC President Ursula von der Leyen nominated Bulgaria’s Ekaterina Zaharieva for the portfolio of startups, research and innovation.
Zaharieva, a former foreign minister, will be the first to hold that portfolio, if the European Parliament approves Von der Leyen’s proposed Commission.
Bulgaria’s caretaker government initially nominated two candidates, a man and a woman, in line with Von der Leyen’s request: Zaharieva, of Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF, and former environment minister Julian Popov, of the reformist We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria coalition.
Von der Leyen said of Zaharieva: “We must put research and innovation, science and technology at the centre of our economy. She will help ensure that we invest more and focus our spending on strategic priorities and on groundbreaking innovation”.
The full list of nominees is:
Teresa Ribera (Spain): Executive Vice-President of a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition.
Henna Virkkunen (Finland): Executive Vice-President for Tech-Sovereignty, Security and Democracy.
Stéphane Séjourné (France): Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.
Kaja Kallas (Estonia): Executive Vice-President and foreign policy chief.
Roxana Mînzatu (Romania): Executive Vice-President for People, Skills and Preparedness.
Raffaele Fitto (Italy): Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms.
Maroš Šefčovič (Slovakia): Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security.
Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia): Commissioner for Economy and Productivity, and Commissioner for Implementation and Simplification.
Dubravka Šuica (Croatia): Commissioner for the Mediterranean.
Olivér Várhely (Hungary): Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare.
Wopke Hoekstra (the Netherlands): Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth.
Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania): Commissioner for Defence and Space.
Marta Kos (Slovenia): Commissioner for Enlargement.
Jozef Síkela (Czechia): Commissioner for International Partnerships.
Costas Kadis (Cyprus): Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans.
Maria Luís Albuquerque (Portugal): Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investment Union.
Hadja Lahbib (Belgium): Commissioner for Preparedness and Crisis Management.
Magnus Brunner (Austria): Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration.
Jessika Roswall (Sweden): Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy.
Piotr Serafin (Poland): Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration.
Dan Jørgensen (Denmark): Commissioner for Energy and Housing.
Ekaterina Zaharieva (Bulgaria): Commissioner for Research and Innovation.
Michael McGrath (Ireland): Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Greece): Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.
Christophe Hansen (Luxembourg): Commissioner for Agriculture and Food.
Glenn Micallef (Malta): Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Culture, Youth and Sport.
On September 17, at the invitation of European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Von der Leyen discussed with leaders of the political groups of the European Parliament the structure and portfolios of the proposed new College of Commissioners.
“We are now beginning an intense and necessary period of parliamentary scrutiny of the new College of Commissioners,” Metsola said.
“Members will carefully examine the candidacies of all Commissioners-designate in public hearings. The aim is to complete this vetting process as efficiently as possible. However, the MEPs will not cut corners. Our citizens are counting on us,” she said.
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