Commissioner not to be MEP
July 10, 2009
Meglena Kuneva decided to remain the European Commissioner for Consumer Protection instead of taking her seat in the parliament.
Kuneva's term as commissioner ends in October but she would have had to resign from that position in order to be sworn in to the new parliament next week.
“I have taken my decision ... I will complete my term as commissioner,” she told a news conference in Sofia.
In the European parliamentary elections on June 7, Kuneva was elected as deputy for the liberal NMSP party of former Bulgarian King Simeon Saxe Coburg, which is part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Kuneva said this decision came after talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Borroso and Bulgaria's prime minister-designate, Boyko Borisov.
What does the future hold?
When asked if she planned to seek backing from the new government for a second term in the EU commission, Kuneva said: “This is not a matter of my immediate efforts.”
Before this announcement, Borisov had said that he wouldn't be asking for a new mandate for the European commissioner for consumer affairs after Kuneva left the post. This was part of a plan to curb spending and releasing 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) frozen last year by the European Commission over concerns of fraud and poor management.
However, according to Bulgarian media, Borisov is now planning to nominate another MEP, Rumyana Zheleva, a member of his center-right GERB party, as Bulgaria's next representative at the commission.
sjt/AFP/AP
Editor: Chuck Penfold