Roemeense commissaris voor Europese talen (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has appointed Romania's EU negotiator Leonard Orban to join his 27-strong team next January as a new commissioner for multilingualism - the EU's activities in support of European languages.

"I am sure that Mr Orban, on the basis of his personal, political and professional experience, qualities and commitment will successfully carry out the responsibilities which I wish to assign to him," Mr Barroso said in a statement on Monday (30 October).

The commission's decision came after Bucharest suggested the current deputy European affairs minister and chief negotiator take up the top Brussels job to replace Romania's first choice for the position - liberal senator Varujan Vosganian.

Mr Vosganian withdrew from the running over the weekend after a spate of negative reactions due to allegations by local media that he had collaborated with the communist secret police as well as concerns by some MEPs over his European credentials.

The new Romanian commissioner designate - Mr Orban (45) - met Mr Barroso in Lisbon on Monday for bilateral talks before the announcement was made.

With an economics and engineering background and a multi-linguist himself with English, French and Italian under his belt, apart from his mother tongue, Mr Orban will be responsible for multilingualism - an area currently headed by the Slovak commissioner Jan Figel.

"I welcome the decision - which I discussed beforehand with Mr Barroso - and I wish my Romanian colleague all the best in this interesting and important area," Mr Figel told EUobserver.

"With Bulgaria and Romania joining the EU next year, plus Irish to be recognised as an EU official language, there will be three more official languages in the union, 23 in total. And that will mean new challenges for us to support them," he added.

The commissioner pointed out that although some might consider this area as minor or less significant, it has been enhanced by the EU's latest decisions to form special expert groups and organise ministerial gatherings focusing on how to increase language skills among Europeans - as an instrument for boosting mobility across the bloc.

"The European Commission may not have a formal legal power to legislate in this area, but just as in the case of higher education there is a natural tendency among European universities and other stakeholders to co-operate more," noted Mr Figel.

"And I myself will have more time to focus on the preparation of the European Institute of Technology," he said, referring to Mr Barroso's flagship project aiming to pool EU resources in order to boost innovation.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian commissioner designate - the country's current European affairs minister Meglena Kuneva - has been appointed to take over the consumer protection portfolio, currently run by Cypriot commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

The European Parliament is set to hold a hearing of the two new members of the college in November and vote on their appointment in December.