Romanian MEP Adina Valean approved as European commissioner for transport

"Romania today nominated two candidates for the Commissioner position. Both candidates held interviews with the president-elect and performed well. The president-elect of the European Commission has decided that Adina Valean will take over the Transport portfolio," EC deputy chief spokesperson Mina Andreeva said on Wednesday evening during a press briefing in Brussels, as seen in a video file posted on the Commission's website.

According to the Commission, Valean is an experienced MEP who has gathered experience on topics related to the transport portfolio, as she was rapporteur for the Connecting Europe Facility - the instrument which supports infrastructure in the fields of transport, energy and digital services.

Alongside Valean, Romania's new government formed by National Liberal Party (PNL) has proposed liberal MEP Siegfried Muresan for the post.

On November 14, Valean will be heard by the Commission's Transport Committee.

As a Romanian national, Valean is to replace MEP Corina Cretu on the list of commissioners. Cretu served as European Commissioner for Regional Policy in the outgoing Commission headed by Jean-Claude Juncker.

Valean's appointment ends an almost two-month deadlock over Romania's proposal for the portfolio.

At end-September, the European Parliament's legal affairs committee said that Romanian MEP Rovana Plumb, who was first designated as EU transport commissioner, has a conflict of interest that compromises her candidacy. Three more candidacies proposed afterwards by the former Social Democrat government were either rejected by the Commission or withdrawn.