Iliana Ivanova, Bulgaria’s commissioner-designate for innovation, research, culture, education and youth, successfully sailed through an almost three-hour European Parliament hearing on Tuesday (5 September), winning applause from MEPs.
Ivanova, a former MEP (2009-2012) and member of the European Court of Auditors (2013-2023), was Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s choice between the two candidates – male and female – Bulgaria presented after Mariya Gabriel left her job as commissioner to return to national politics.
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Iliana Ivanova, a member of the European Court of …
Ivanova, who will turn 48 this week, is better known in Brussels than in Bulgaria, as she has spent most of her career in European institutions. As Gabriel, she belongs to the EPP-affiliated GERB party of former prime minister Boyko Borissov.
According to her CV, she speaks English, French, German, and Russian. In her written introductory statement, she switched from Bulgarian to English, then to German and to French. But in Parliament, she answered all the questions in English, except when replying to compatriots and party fellows Eva Maydell and Asim Ademov.
Before her hearing, organized by the committees on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and on Culture and Education (CULT), she signed a Declaration of Financial Interest that has remained empty. Even her political affiliation is not indicated.
Already in the 38 pages of responses to written questions by MEPs, Ivanova showed good knowledge of EU policies and command of the EU jargon and the political correctness needed to pass the parliamentary hearing.
MEP Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany), chair of the ITRE committee, who co-presided the hearing together with ITRE chair Cristian Bușoi (EPP, Romania), spoke highly of the quality of the discussion and called Ivanova’s answers “competent”.
In her introductory statement, Ivanova pledged to improve the quality of EU spending, ensure a better gender balance, and put emphasis on youth engagement in her field of responsibility.
She called her new portfolio “fascinating” and promised honesty and transparency in delivering.
Her portfolio covers such programmes as Horizon Europe, the seven-year EU scientific research initiative, the Erasmus+ education exchange programme, building the European Research Area, making the European Education Area a reality by 2025, updating the Digital Education Action Plan, implementing the New European Agenda for Culture, promoting creative industries in the framework of the Creative Europe Programme.
The total financial envelope of this budget is estimated at €120 billion and the interest of stakeholders for these funds is huge.
Some of the questions by MEPs attested to frustrations and fears in some countries that the funds could be diverted toward other priorities the EU executive may identify, or toward the integration of additional partners to the EU.
Avoiding traps
Ivanova didn’t fall into the trap of frustrated MEPs such as Hungary’s Andrea Bocskor from Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, who lamented the suspending of EU grants to Hungarian universities, as she appeared familiar with the dossier.
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In December, the …
Last December, the Commission suspended EU funding for the Erasmus and Horizon programmes for some Hungarian universities after the country failed to revisit its practice of nominating politicians close to the government to boards of 21 colleges run by so-called “public trust foundations”.
In a similar vein, when MEP Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (Renew, Spain) asked for minority languages such as Basque and Catalan to be included in the EU programmes under her remit, Ivanova replied that there were 60 minority languages in the EU and that the EU was making efforts for the preservation of this cultural heritage, but could hardly do more.
Ivanova’s hearing was seen more as a test of the lawmakers’ capacity to grill more controversial candidate commissioners, such as the Netherlands’ Wopke Hoekstra, who is nominated to replace Frans Timmermans, the EU climate change tsar.
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Another Commission heavyweight due to be replaced soon is Margrethe Vestager, who is Denmark’s candidate for president of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
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Ivanova will become commissioner on 12 September, when the European Parliament plenary is expected to endorse her appointment.
Bulgaria is the only EU country that has never had a male commissioner. The previous Bulgarian commissioners were Meglena Kuneva, Kristalina Georgieva, and Mariya Gabriel.
This time around, the Bulgarian press has not revealed any controversy or skeletons in Ivanova’s closet. Bulgaria is currently facing an acute demographic problem and brain drain – an issue Ivanova pledges to help solve at the EU level.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
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