SLOVAK representative in the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič will be responsible for the agenda of Transport and Space, the TASR newswire reported on September 10.
This development comes as a surprise in Slovakia, since the media had speculated that Šefčovič would be responsible for the humanitarian aid or European neighbourhood policy and EU enlargement, rather than transport, TASR wrote.
The department of transport is considered an important one in the EC, with up to €40 billion allocated to this area in the new 2014-20 programming period. The development and modernisation of transport infrastructure is a major priority of the EU and includes several supranational projects, including the Connecting Europe Facility programme.
After structural changes introduced by EC President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker, the transport department will also supervise the space agenda, which includes the Galileo and Copernicus programmes, TASR wrote.
Šefčovič said before the EP elections that he was seeking a strong economic post in the EC. He told the SITA newswire that the department of transport is the kind of position he was interested in.
“Transport is one of the strongest departments, since it covers the whole infrastructure,” Šefčovič said, as quoted by SITA, adding that it employs more than 10 million Europeans and connects all of the big transport industries.
According to him, several factors influenced this final decision. He, among other things, had declared an interest in taking on a strong economic post and he wanted to be active in a field that has an impact on people’s everyday lives. According to him, his relationship with the new EC president also played a role when deciding over nominations for the posts, as reported by SITA.
Source: TASR, SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
