Brussels, 15 May 2023
Commissioner Mariya Gabriel has informed me that today she will be presented to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria to receive the institutional mandate to form a government.
She has therefore submitted her resignation as a member of the College of Commissioners.
I have accepted her resignation.
I would like to thank Mariya Gabriel for her service as Commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth. In her three and a half years in this role, she has made a great contribution to advancing the Commission priorities in this area.
I am grateful in particular to Commissioner Gabriel for the excellent implementation of our flagship innovation programme Horizon Europe, for the strong push for innovation and start-ups through the European Innovation Council and for her personal engagement in making the European year of youth a success.
And I would also like to thank Commissioner Gabriel for her constructive and friendly contribution to the work of the College of commissioners, in general.
I wish Mariya Gabriel all the best and I am confident that her European experience, in this and the previous College of Commissioners, will be put to good use for the country.
In the meantime, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and Vice-President Margaritis Schinas will be in charge of overseeing Commissioner Gabriel’s portfolio, with immediate effect. Executive Vice-President Vestager will be responsible for innovation and research, while Vice-President Schinas will be in charge of education, culture and youth.