SOFIA (Bulgaria), May 16 (SeeNews) – The head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has announced he plans to allocate the Digital Economy and Society portfolio to Mariya Gabriel, Bulgaria’s candidate to serve as commissioner, the Commission said on Tuesday.
Juncker interviewed Mariya Gabriel earlier on Tuesday, confirming her competencies required by EU law to become candidate for Commissioner, the Commission said in a press release.
The seat of the Bulgarian member of the Commission has been vacant since Kristalina Georgieva, Vice President for Budget and Human Resources, stepped down to take the position of Chief Executive Officer for the World Bank from the start of 2017.
Georgieva's portfolio has been transferred to Commissioner Guenther Oettinger. The Digital Economy and Society has been temporarily assigned to Vice-President Andrus Ansip.
Mariya Gabriel has already been sent a mission letter, detailing her main tasks and responsibilities as Commissioner.
“The Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society will support the implementation of the Digital Single Market Strategy that the European Commission adopted in May 2015,” the Commission said. “She will contribute to delivering a Digital Single Market helping to lay the groundwork for Europe's digital future with pan-continental telecoms networks, digital services that cross borders and a wave of innovative European start-ups.”
The next step in the procedure requires an exchange of views between Mariya Gabriel and the relevant committee of the European Parliament. The hearing is expected to take place in the coming weeks, the Commission said.
Following the hearing, she has to be appointed by the Council of the EU by common accord with the President of the Commission after consultation of the European Parliament.
Gabriel, a member of Bulgaria’s governing conservative GERB party, has been a member of the European Parliament in the group of the European People’s Party (EPP) since 2009. As of 2014 she is EPP group vice-president in the European Parliament and head of the Bulgarian delegation in the EPP group.