Deputy PM Bienkowska confirmed as commissioner

Deputy Prime Minister Elzbieta Bienkowska. Photo: PAP/Wojciech Pacewicz

President-elect of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said that Bienkowska's portfolio “will be the engine house of the real economy,” when he announced his team on Wednesday.

“In the new Commission, there are no first or second-class Commissioners – there are team leaders and team players,” he added.

“They will work together in a spirit of collegiality and mutual dependence,” he stressed.

“I want to introduce a new collaborative way of working in areas where Europe can really make a difference,” he said.

Bienkowska, who is Poland's current minister of infrastructure and development, follows Prime Minister Donald Tusk to Brussels, with the latter elected president of the European Council on 30 August.

Tusk tendered his resignation as head of the government on Tuesday. His prospective successor, Speaker Ewa Kopacz, is expected to carry out a major cabinet reshuffle, if President Bronislaw Komorowski approves her candidacy as expected. (nh)

Source: PAP