New Transport Commissioner for the EU Announced

With the new European Commission waiting to commence work because 3 of Ursula von der Leyen’s 27 appointees were rejected by MEPs, the date for the hearings for the new commissioners-designate has now been set for 14 November. Among them is Adina-Ioana Valean from Romania, who has been given the transport brief.

If accepted, Adina-Ioana Valean will succeed Violeta Bulc from Slovakia in her role. There had been some speculation that MEP Siegfried Muresan would get the nod. He was the other of the two candidates put forward by the government under Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. Adina-Ioana Valean would only be the second woman to serve in this role following her predecessor Bulc. The von der Leyen Commission is also the first ever to be headed by a woman.

The hearings will last three hours each and if successful there will be a plenary vote on 27 November, where a simple majority is necessary to elect the full Commission.

Adina-Ioana Valean

Adina-Ioana Valean – European Commissioner for Transport candidate
Adina-Ioana Valean – European Commissioner for Transport candidate

Adina-Ioana Valean is one of Romania’s most senior MEPs, having joined the European Parliament as an observer in 2006 before Romania was an EU member. She then became an MEP in the EPP group in 2007.

In 2013 she was one of the rapporteurs at the joint committee meeting (Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, and Committee on Transport and Tourism) on the proposal to establish the Connecting Europe Facility, the EU funding tool for transport projects.

On 22 October 2019, discussing the EU budget for 2020, Adina-Ioana Valean said about the Connecting Europe Facility:

“[...] the Connecting Europe Facility is a very successful programme needed for infrastructure. It goes very well with the Investment Plan, creating added value from private resources to public funds, so we also need to see the Connecting Europe Facility well financed for the next year.”

Valean studied mathematics and worked as a maths teacher until 1997. She then obtained a degree in European integration and security studies, followed by a PhD in security and defence polity.

Adina-Ioana Valean joined the National Liberal Party of Romania in 1999. Between 2004 and 2006 she was an MP for the electoral district of Calarasi.

European Commissioner for Transport

This portfolio is in charge of developing the EU’s transport infrastructure. The role was established in 1958 as part of the Commission of the European Economic Community under Walter Hallstein, one of the founding fathers of the European Union.

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