BULGARIA, ROMANIA PROPOSE NEW COMMISSIONERS

EurActiv.com, Belgium
Oct 25 2006

In Short:

Meglena Kuneva and Varujan Vosganian have been named as Commissioner
candidates by Bulgaria and Romania.

Brief News:

The Bulgarian candidate Meglena Kuneva holds a doctorate degree in
law and has worked on environmental issues in Bulgaria, as well as
for international organisations, such as the World Bank. Since 2001
she is deputy minister of foreign affairs and chief negotiator for
Bulgaria with the EU. In 2002 she was elected special representative
for Bulgaria to the Convention on the Future of the EU.

Varujan Vosganian holds a doctorate degree in economics and is the
president of the Union of Armenians in Romania. He is founder and
former president of the "Union of the Right-wing Forces" party.

Currently he is spokesman and MP for the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe. According to Mediafax, Vosganian was proposed
and especially favoured by Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu
Tariceanu. Tariceanu said: "I strongly believe that the solid
political experience and the professional profile of Mr. Varujan
Vosganian recommends him for this position."

The official decision will be announced on October 26 2006, following
the Council meeting.

The European Parliament hearings of the two candidates is expected
to take place 27-29 November 2006. The Parliament is to vote on the
new commissioners on 4 January 2007.

EurActiv.ro has contributed to this article.