Liberal MEP Adina Vălean has been accepted by the European Commission President-elect, Ursula von der Leyen, for the European Commissioner seat on Romania’s behalf.
“Both candidates had interviews with the President-elect and did well. The President-elect decided for Adina Valean to take on the portfolio of transport”, a spokesman of the EC announced, after Romania had submitted two proposals for this position today: Siegfried Muresan and Adina Valean, both PNL MEPs.
Adina Vălean will get the Transport portfolio, as initially assigned to Romania.
Adina Vălean will be heard by the European lawmakers on November 14 in Brussels before her nomination can be formally confirmed. The target is still for the new 28-nations bloc’s executive to start as of December 1st.
Liberal Adina Valean ranked as the fourth most influential Romanian MEP, in Top 100 of the current European Parliament term, as a Vote Watch Europe survey revealed in April this year.
Adina Vălean is also the first Romanian MEP elected as chairman of a parliamentary committee with the European Parliament. From 2014 to 2017, she was Vice-President of the European Parliament, on behalf of the EPP Group, in charge of ICT.
In the previous mandate, she was the rapporteur on the Connecting Europe Facility, a financing instrument which aims at funding €33.2 billion worth of investments to improve Europe’s transport, energy and digital networks and rapporteur on the regulation of mobile roaming services in 2009.
Vălean has been Member of the Romanian National Liberal Party (PNL) since 1999 and from 2004 to 2006 was a Member of the Romanian Parliament.
Before becoming a politician, Adina Vălean was a social activist and member of several foundations and associations which promote tolerance, dialogue and a liberal economic market. She began her professional career as a maths teacher in Bucharest. She has a Master’s degree in European Integration and Security Studies, postgraduate studies in National Security and Defence Management and a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics. She is married to former PNL chairman Crin Antonescu.