European Commissioner

By the end of the day, the UK must nominate its new EU commissioner. This was announced by a spokesman for the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

The European Commission will cease monitoring of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, but formally the decision will have to be consulted with the Council and the European Parliament. However, Bulgaria will still have to fulfill its commitments. The new commission will continue to monitor, but in another form, and it will apply to all members of the Union.

Special AGERPRES correspondent, Florin Stefan, reports: Romania should send its European Commissioner proposal by the beginning of next week, at the latest, in order for the European Parliament to be able to stick to its timetable and vote for the new European Commission at its session in November, Dacian Ciolos stated on Tuesday in Strasbourg.

Ursula von der Leyen will have to wait a month before heading to the next European Commission, as the European Parliament rejected three candidate-commissioners, the institution's spokesman said Wednesday (16 October), Euractiv reported.

EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, nominated by Bulgaria for a new term, will be heard today in two committees of the European Parliament.

Mariya Gabriel will answer MPs' questions within three hours, between 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm local time. She will appear before the committees on culture and education and on industry, research and energy.

It is easy to take exception to the "infelicitous semantic choice" of ditsy new job titles that "reflect a sense of detachment from European realities", as one EU law professor put it to The Guardian.

Among others, there's former Hungarian Minister of Justice Lszl Trcsnyi, who will be appointed new European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, replacing Johannes Hahn on that position.

Friday's Brussels-based EU News Agency post triggered another wave of speculation in the European media about the distribution of posts in the future European Commission. According to the Bulletin Quotidien Europe of the Bulgarian candidate for a new term as EU Commissioner, Mariya Gabriel is a separate line for Education and Culture.

Bulgaria wants its current EU commissioner, Maria Gabriel, to receive the agriculture department of the new European Commission, Politico reported. Currently, Gabriel is responsible for the Digital Economy and Digital Society.

"We are interested in the agricultural portfolio," a Bulgarian diplomat told the newspaper.

Turkey should always keep its head turned towards Europe as a "key regional power," EU Commissioner for Migration, Internal Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos has said.