Bulgarian represetative becomes EU’s commissioner for startups and innovation
Ursula von der Leyen, soon to be President of the European Commission for the second time, presented the nominations for her team of EU Commissioners for the next term. Particularly exciting from the perspective of startups: The EU gets its own Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation. The position will be taken over by Ekaterina Zaharieva from Bulgaria.
Zaharieva was previously Bulgaria’s Minister for Regional Development, Minister of Justice, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Along with Julian Popov, she was the second person nominated by Bulgaria’s government for a post in the EU Commission. The EU Parliament still has to approve the nominations.
The media outlet Politico suggests that most probably Zaharieva will not get approved due to previous accusations of her involvement in corrupt schemes in Bulgaria. In 2018 Zaharieva was caught up in a scandal related to the sale of Bulgarian citizenships.
“We need to put research and innovation, science and technology, at the heart of our economy. [Zaharieva] will ensure that we invest more and focus our spending on strategic priorities and breakthrough technologies,” said von der Leyen at a press conference where the nominated EU commissioners were presented.
According to the new Draghi report, there are many issues in the EU when it comes to startups, including a lot of regulation and gaps in financing. Draghi also proposed a separate legal form for startups in Europe, namely the “Innovative European Company .”
The other nominations for the EU Commission:
- Teresa Ribera Rodriguez (Spain, Competition and Green and Digital Transition)
- Henna Virkkunen (Finland, Technological Sovereignty and Security)
- Stéphane Séjourné (France, Industry, Internal Market and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises)
- Kaja Kallas (Estonia, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy)
- Roxana Mînzatu (Romania, Education)
- Raffaele Fitto (Italy, Cohesion, Regional Policy and Reforms)
- Magnus Brunner (Austria, Migration)
- Christophe Hansen (Luxembourg, Agriculture and Food)
- Glenn Micallef (Malta, Intergenerational Justice, Youth, Culture and Sport)
- Wopke Hoekstra (Netherlands, Climate and Clean Growth)
- Piotr Serafin (Poland, Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration)
- Maria Luís Albuquerque (Portugal, Financial Services, Capital Markets Union)
- Maroš Šefčovič (Slovakia, Trade and Economic Security, Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency)
- Marta Kos (Slovenia, Enlargement)
- Jessika Roswall (Sweden, Environment, water resilience and a competitive circular economy)
- Olivér Várhelyi (Hungary, Health and Animal Welfare)
- Michael McGrath (Ireland, Democracy, Justice and Rule of Law)
- Valdis Dombrovskis (Latvia, Economy and Productivity, Implementation and Simplification)
- Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania, Defence and Space)
- Costas Kadis (Cyprus, Fisheries and Oceans)
- Jozef Síkela (Czech Republic, International Partnerships)
- Dan Jørgensen (Denmark, Energy and Housing)
- Apostolos Tzitzikostas (Greece, Sustainable Transport and Tourism)
- Hadja Lahbib (Belgium, Preparedness and Crisis Management)
- Dubravka Šuica (Croatia, Mediterranean)
- Ekaterina Zaharieva (Bulgaria, Startups, Research and Innovation)
