June 21 (SeeNews) - Mariya Gabriel, the Commissioner-designate for the digital economy and society portfolio, has told members of the European Parliament that her main priority would be to ensure the successful implementation of existing initiatives.
"We have a digital revolution to take care of," Mariya Gabriel said during a hearing on Tuesday, in which replied to questions from two committees’ members assessing her skills, the European Parliament said in a press release.
The MEPs quizzed Mariya Gabriel on several topics, including the digitisation of the European industry, possible solutions to cyber-attacks, the future of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), radio spectrum allocation in the EU and the different regulatory and fiscal aspects of online platforms, according to the press release.
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 and on the basis of which it presented a mid-term review on 10 May. The commisioner will contribute to delivering a digital single market helping to lay the groundwork for Europe's digital future with pan-continental telecommunications networks, digital services that cross borders and a wave of innovative European start-ups.
"A two-year mandate is short and I am fully aware of that," Gabriel said, adding that she would focus on issues such as the end of roaming charges, the portability of content, the reallocation of spectrum for broadband internet, copyright reform and the wifi4eu initiative, which aims to offer free wi-fi connectivity in public spaces across the EU.
The MEPs will vote whether to approve her appointment during the plenary session at the beginning of July.
The seat of Bulgaria's member of the European 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.
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.