The EC has announced that Janusz Lewandowski will be the new Budget Commissioner in Brussels as of January next year.
“Poland got what it wanted,” said Lewandowski. “The budget commission is what we were aiming for from the start. Poland is now a significant player on the European scene.”
Lewandowski is an MEP for the Civic Platform party and is a trained economist.
He graduated in economics from Miami University, and was a lecturer there until 1984. He also lecturered at Harvard University and later was the founder of the prestigious Research Institute for Market Economy in Gdansk.
The appointment of Janusz Lewandowski to the post of EU Commissioner comes as little surprise. Yet, until today, it remained a mystery whether the Polish candidate would be given the industry or budget portfolio.
Lewandowski claims, however, that President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barosso unofficially promised Prime Minister Donald Tusk the post.
“Poland has learnt how to achieve goals. We are a significant player on the European stage,” said the newly-appointed commissioner. Lewandowski revealed that his task will be to keep the EU budget in balance.
“One part of Europe pays and the other one takes. The most important task is to manage the EU finances in the way that will unite Europe,” said Lewandowski.
Along with Lewandowski’s nomination, French politician Michel Barnier was given internal market and customs portfolio, and a German politician Guenther H. Oettinger – energy portfolio.
'He deserves more'
“The Budget portfolio is not the most important one because it is EU member states that have a crucial impact on the EU budget, not the budget commission itself, “said MEP Ryszard Czarnecki, adding that Lewandowski deserved much more.
“Lewandowski has a broad knowledge of economy and European policy. He is a ‘premiere league player’, respected in Brussels, and the right person for a post in the European Commission,” said Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Poland’s EU Minister, after Lewandowski’s nomination for EU Commissioner.
On 11-15 January, MEPs will hear the newly elected commissioners and if they accept them, the new European Commission will be approved on 26 January and will start working on 1 February.
Janusz Lewandowski, economist related to Civic Platform, is the head of the budget committee in the EP. In June, he was re-elected to the EP and belongs to the European People’s Party (EPP). (pg/mg)