THE SLOVAK member of the European Commission (EC) will be responsible for the area of education and culture, announced José Manuel Barroso, the new EC chairman, yesterday. The areas of responsibility for the remaining 23 commissioners were also announced.
The decision to give Ján Figeľ the education and culture agenda came as a surprise because prior to becoming commissioner he had been studying the field of information technologies, which was believed to become his agenda.
Figeľ said, however, that Barosso's decision did not surprise him.
"The head of the EC consulted me with his decision," Figeľ said to the SME daily, adding that he accepted the agenda as a "challenge for communication with 25 EU member states."