BULGARIA NOMINATED KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA AS A NEW COMMISSION CANDIDATE

Buzek: "The democratic process is working" as one Commission candidate falls

Speaking to journalists following the decision of the Bulgarian government to withdraw Rumiana Jeleva as commissioner-designate, Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said the democratic process was working and indicated the next steps of the procedure.

Buzek acknowledged the decision of the Bulgarian government and said that there was now a "clear agenda" for the coming weeks. Parliament would now await the new commissioner-designate from Bulgaria and the proposal of Commission President Barroso for the portfolio to be held by the new candidate.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Borisov has in the meantime informed President Barroso of his intention to suggest Ms Kristalina Georgieva, currently Vice-President of the World Bank, as member of the European Commission. President Barroso will meet her as soon as possible, with a view to considering his agreement to that suggestion.

The European Parliament would forward a questionnaire to the new commissioner-designate and schedule the necessary parliamentary hearing in accordance with the same procedure as applied to all other candidates, Mr Buzek announced.

Mr Buzek currently expected the hearing to be held on 3 February, with Parliament's vote on the Commission as a whole to take place on 9 February, two days ahead of the next meeting of the European Council. These dates would be confirmed as soon as possible.

Asked whether he foresaw any other new hearings being scheduled alongside that for the new Bulgarian nominee, Buzek said that, on the basis of his discussions so far he did not expect this to be the case, but that Parliament's final position on all the other commissioners-designate would be decided by political group leaders at a meeting scheduled for Thursday 21 January.

The President's statement came after Parliament received the news on Tuesday morning of the withdrawal of the Bulgarian nominee Rumiana Jeleva.  Mrs Jeleva had appeared before Parliament's Development Committee a week earlier, on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.

Who is Kristalina Georgieva?

Kristalina Georgieva, a Bulgarian national, became Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group in March 2008. In her current position, she plays a key role in facilitating and fostering cooperation and strategic dialogue between the Boards and the Bank Group Senior Management. With the World Bank since 1993, Kristalina has held a number of technical and managerial positions in Bank operations and on issues of environment and sustainable development.

Serving as Environmental Economist from 1993-1997, she managed a large number of environment projects and was in charge of World Bank support of the Environment Action Program for Central and Eastern Europe. During the East Asia crisis, as Director for Environment and Social Development in the East Asia and Pacific Region, Ms. Georgieva oversaw the design and implementation of key social safety net programs, and led Bank response to concerns in the region about environmental risks.

As Director for Environment from 2000-2004, she led the preparation of the first World Bank environmental strategy and oversaw a portfolio of over $11 billion in environmental lending. From 2004 to 2007, as Country Director for the Russian Federation, she was responsible for all World Bank activities in Russia, including a $2.2 billion project portfolio in public management, health, education, municipal development and environment and a growing program of subnational lending and direct advisory services to regions of the Russian Federation.

In 2007 she assumed responsibilities for strategy and operations in the World Bank Sustainable Development Network.