[A2k] EU : new Consumer protection Commissioner

[Michelle Childs]

<snip>Ms Kuneva =96 who as Europe minister guided Bulgaria into the EU =96 =
has
seen less questions raised about her future responsibilities. She will be
the EU commissioner for consumer protection =96 a portfolio taken from
commissioner Markos Kyprianou who will now focus only on health in the EU.

Ms Kuneva has said she supports harmonisation of consumer protection
standards and has pledged she will also focus on areas where consumer
protection faces great challenges, such as in electronic communications.



http://euobserver.com/9/23081/?rk=3D1
European Parliament approves new EU commissioners
12.12.2006 - 13:39 CET | By Helena Spongenberg

EUOBSERVER / STRASBOURG =96 The European Parliament has with an overwhelmin=
g
majority given its final seal of approval to the EU's two newest
commissioners from Bulgaria and Romania in the last official hurdle before
they join their 25 colleagues in Brussels in three weeks time.

Meglena Kuneva from Bulgaria received 583 votes (plus 21 against and 28
abstentions) while her Romanian colleague Leonard Orban pulled in 595
votes (plus 16 against and 29 abstentions) on Tuesday (12 December)

Some MEPs did, however, still question Mr Orban's portfolio as the EU
commissioner for multilingualism saying his job tasks "are not clear."

The post has been carved out of the portfolio of EU culture and education
commissioner Jan Figel.

Mr Orban will be responsible for three directorate-generals in the
commission: translation, interpretation and the office for official
publications of the European communities and will oversee around 3,400
civil servants.

He has said he supported the ongoing commission "mother tongue + 2"
initiative to increase EU citizens' language abilities and has spoken in
favour of subtitling movies instead of dubbing them, which will expose
viewers to other languages.

However, Mr Orban cannot force member states to take action on
multilingualism, as education and intercultural issues =96 areas important
for his portfolio =96 are essentially under national control.

>From 2007, the European bloc will have a total of 23 official languages
adding to the already-existing tensions between administrative efficiency
and the right of citizens to linguistic diversity.

Ms Kuneva =96 who as Europe minister guided Bulgaria into the EU =96 has se=
en
less questions raised about her future responsibilities. She will be the
EU commissioner for consumer protection =96 a portfolio taken from
commissioner Markos Kyprianou who will now focus only on health in the EU.

Ms Kuneva has said she supports harmonisation of consumer protection
standards and has pledged she will also focus on areas where consumer
protection faces great challenges, such as in electronic communications.

Both commissioners will be received in the commission at a welcoming event
in Brussels on 4 January 2007.
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--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA .Tel.:
+1.202.332.2670,Fax: +1.202.332.2673

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727