The portfolio that Bulgaria received is extremely important. Ekaterina Zaharieva said this to representatives of the Bulgarian media in Strasbourg. She was nominated by EU President Ursula von der Leyen to be European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation.
"I want to express my gratitude to the President of the European Commission, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, and to the Bulgarian government for this trust and for the nomination. I realize the responsibility. She is big. The portfolio that Bulgaria received is one of the portfolios of the future. It is extremely important and is at the center of the previous and the next commission", said Ekaterina Zaharieva.
According to her, in the political guidelines that she gave at the beginning of her term as von der Leyen, a special place was allocated to innovation and research.
"We need to boost research and innovation to make our economy more competitive. That is, it is directly related to the increase in the competitiveness of the EU and the European economy", commented Zaharieva.
She refused to answer questions from the press until the hearings went through.
What's ahead?
It is expected today that the Bulgarian MEP and Chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs, Ilhan Kyuchuk, will announce information about the procedural steps of the verification of the declarations of financial interests of the candidates for members of the new EC.
According to the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament, the Committee on Legal Affairs is responsible for checking the potential conflict of financial interests of each candidate for Member of the Commission. This procedure is confidential and is a prerequisite for conducting the candidate's hearing in the EP. The Legal Affairs Committee must confirm in writing that there is no conflict of interest in order for the candidate to be heard by the relevant parliamentary committee.
All candidates for European Commissioner will also have to go through hearings with members of the European Parliament, who must approve their candidacy. The next European Commission is expected to take office by the end of the year.