The new members of the European Commission have been announced
Adelina Marini, November 27, 2009
The president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, elected for a second term, has announced the new members of the Commission for the next 5 years. In spite of the various speculations, Bulgaria got the International cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crises Reaction. From the very beginning since the current Bulgarian foreign minister has been nominated for the Bulgarian commissioner, Ms. Zheleva said that she expected our country to get a foreign policy field. Her work will be directly related to job of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security of Lady Ashton because it is part of EU's foreign policy. Many of the current commissioners have kept their places in the next Commission but with different jobs. Here is the full list:
- The Spaniard Joaquin Almunia, who is now responsible for economic and monetary affairs takes competition and becomes a vice-president;
- László Andor, Hungary, will take Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Since 2005 
László Andor is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Reconstruction and Development Bank in London, representative for Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Croatia.
- Baroness Ashton takes the new, according to the Lisbon Treaty, post of a High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security. Lady Ashton is still a commissioner responsible for trade. She took over from Peter Mandelson in October last year when he became a minister in the government of Gordon Brown.
During her work as a commissioner she secured a free trade agreement with South Korea.
Before she started work in the European Commission Catherine Ashton was a member of the House of Lords in the British Parliament and in 2007 she became a leader of the House of Lords.
- The Frenchman Michel Barnier who was a commissioner for regional policy in the 
Commission of Romano Prodi and now a foreign minister of France, will take the internal market and services.
Michel Barnier was elected in 1978 as the youngest member of the French National Assembly (the parliament). He was also a minister of the Environment and the European Affairs.
- The Romanian designate Dacian Ciolos takes Agriculture and Rural Development. The press centre of the Commission provided a biography information from Wikipedia. He is an engineer and a politician. He was responsible for the pre-accession agriculture programme SAPARD in the then Delegation of the European Commission in Bucharest between 2002 and 2003.
The he became an adviser to the Minister of Agriculture in Romania from 2005 until 2007. Until his designation as a commissioner, Mr. Ciolos worked in DG Agriculture and Rural Development in the Commission.
- John Dalli, Malta, gets Health and Consumer Policy. Currently, John Dalli has been a minister
of social policy in Malta. Before that he was a minister of finance and economic affairs and then he worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Investment Policy.
- Maria Damanaki, Greece - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. She was a president of the radical Greek party Synaspismos and at the moment is a state member of the Hellenic parliament within PASOK. By education is a chemistry engineer.
She was twice a candidate for mayor of Athens.
- Karel De Gucht will be responsible for Trade. At the moment he is foreign minister of Belgium.
De Gucht has a rich political career. He was a minister for foreign affairs, a member of parliament, a member of the European parliament, national president of the Flemish Liberal and Democratic Party, a member of the Flemish parliament, a senator. By profession he is a lawyer.
- Štefan FÜLE, the Czech Republic who is now a minister of European Affairs, now will be responsible for Enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy. This field is also part of EU's foreign policy and that is why his work will be coordinated with the High Representative Catherine Ashton.
Štefan FÜLE was an ambassador and a head of the permanent mission of the Czech Republic in NATO, an ambassador in London and a first deputy minister of defence. He was also an ambassador in Lithuania and a first secretary at the Czech permanent representation in the UN.
- The Austrian Johannes Hahn, at the moment federal minister for science and research will 
take the Regional Policy.
His political career includes being a member of the parliament in Vienna, member of the regional government of the Austrian capital.
By education he is a philosopher.
- Connie Hedegaard is one of the good choices of Barroso as she will take climate change. Now Hedegaard is a minister of energy and climate of Denmark - the country that deserves this post the most, given its efforts in climate change.
Outside her political career, Connie Hedegaard was a renown journalist. He worked for one of the most popular Danish dailies "Berlingske Tidende".
She also was a member of parliament and a spokeswoman of the Conservative party in Denmark.
- Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, from Ireland, will be responsible for research and innovation. 
Ms. Geoghegan-Quinn was a state secretary of education and then a minister for transport, tourism and communication and a minister of justice.
After the general elections in 1997 she quit politics and became a non executive director of Aer Lingus, member of the Board of Declan Ganley who led the resistance against the Lisbon Treaty in the campaign for the referendum to approve the Treaty.
Maire Geoghegan_Quinn was also a journalist.
- Siim Kallas, the Estonian who in the current Commission is responsible for administrative affairs, now will take Transport and will become a vice president of the Commission;
- The other current commissioner Neelie Kroes, the Netherlands, who is now dealing with 
competition, will take Digital Agenda and will also be a vice president;
- Janusz Lewandowski, a Polish MEP and in the previous European Parliament he was president of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, will take the very important field of Budget and Financial Programming. (euinside offers you an interview with Mr. Lewandowski from 2005 when the financial perspectives of the EU for 2007-2013 were negotiated) ;
- Cecilia Malmstrom, the minister of European Affairs of Sweden, gets the Home Affairs.
She is a PhD for political science from the Goeteborg University. She was also a member of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee in the European Parliament, then a member of the Security and Defense Committee, and the Human Rights Committee.
- Günter Oettinger, the German commissioner, will take the Energy. Mr. Oettinger at the moment is a prime president of Baden-Wuertemberg province, one of the richest German federal provinces;
- Andris Piebalgs, Latvia, who is now responsible for energy, now will get the Development. This
field will be in direct cooperation with Lady Ashton as it is also part of the foreign policy of the EU;
- The designate of Slovenia Janez Potocnik who will also have a second term in the Commission now will be responsible for the Environment and not as he is now - for science and research;
- Another well known name for a second term is Viviane Reding gets Justice, Fundamental 
Rights and Citizenship. She will also be a vice president of the Commission. Ms. Reding currently is responsible for communications;
- Olli Rehn, the current Enlargement Commissioner, will now take the economic and monetary affairs, that were the job of Joaquin Almunia;
- Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ from Slovakia, will take the Inter-Institutional Affairs and Administration 
and will also be a vice president.
He graduated from the University of Economy in Bratislava and the Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations. He was an adviser to the first deputy foreign minister of Czecho-Slovakia in 1990 and later a third secretary and a consul in the Czechoslovak embassy in Zimbabwe.
In the early 90s he was a deputy head of the Czechoslovak mission in Canada and in 1999 he was an ambassador of Slovakia to Israel.
- The Lithuanian Algirdas Semeta who is a member of the Commission since the summer when he replaced Dalia Grybauskaite who became president of Lithuania, now takes the Taxation and Customs Union. He will also be responsible for Audit and Anti-Fraud. At the moment he is responsible for the budget policy;
- Antonio Tajani, the commissioner from Italy will be responsible for Industry and 
Entrepreneurship. He will also be a vice president.
At the moment he is a vice president, responsible for the Transport Policy in Italy. From 1994 till 2008 he was a member of the European Parliament.
He was also a spokesperson of Silvio Berlusconi during his first term as a prime minister. Tajani is one of the founding members of Forza Italia.
Mr. Tajani was also a journalist. He worked as parliamentary reporter and an editor of the weekly Settimanale", a head of the news in RAI1 and a special correspondent in Lebanon, the USSR and Somalia.
- The Cypriot commissioner will continue to be Androulla Vassiliou who is now responsible for Health. In the next Commission she will take Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth;
The new Commission must be approved by the European Parliament. It is expected the Commission to take over on the 26th of January if the hearings in Parliament go on without problems.