Meglena Kuneva

Biography

Born in Sofia she is descended from a Catholic family from the town of Rakovski. Kuneva graduated in Law from Sofia University in 1981. In 1984 she became a Doctor of Law.[check year, 1986 according to other sources] She worked as a journalist for the Law Programme of the Bulgarian National Radio while being an Assistant Professor at Sofia University. In 1990 she took a job as Senior Legal Advisor at the Council of Ministers and held it until 2001. In the meantime Kuneva specialized in Foreign Affairs and Environmental Law at Georgetown University and other universities abroad.

In June 2001 she was elected a deputy (Member of Bulgarian Parliament) as a founding member of the Liberal Simeon II National Movement (NDSV) party. In August 2001 Kuneva left her position in the Bulgarian parliament because she was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Bulgaria with the European Union. She represented the Bulgarian Government in the Convention on the Future of Europe (the European Convention), which designed the EU Constitutional Treaty (the European Constitution).

In May 2002 she was appointed Bulgaria's first Minister of European Affairs in the government of former Tsar Simeon Sakskoburggotski. She held that job even after the 2005 parliamentary elections, when NDSV became a junior partner in the Bulgarian Socialist Party-dominated coalition government of Sergey Stanishev – the only minister of the former cabinet to retain her post.

On 26 October 2006 Kuneva was nominated to be Bulgaria's first member of the European Commission. European Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso assigned her the portfolio of Consumer Protection. Kuneva was decisively approved by the European Parliament on 12 December 2006 with 583 votes "in favour", 21 votes "against" and 28 votes "abstentions". She commenced her mandate as EU Commissioner on 1 January 2007, when Bulgaria officially joined the EU. On 22 January 2007 Meglena Kuneva took an Oath as a European Commissioner at the European Court in Luxembourg. One of her first acts as a European Commissioner was to criticize the iPod and its effects on the youth in Bulgaria.

Meglena Kuneva is married to financier Andrey Pramov, a son of the secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party (1962–1978), and they have one son – Aleksandar. In addition to her native Bulgarian, she is fluent in English, French, and Russian. An avid reader and supporter of literature, she has been chosen to be a member of the jury for the Vick Foundation for the selection of the 2008 Bulgarian Novel of the Year. This Foundation ended its activities in February 2010.

Focus of her actions

Meglena Kuneva was the Commissioner for Consumer Protection at the European Commission.

Meglena Kuneva is interested in online data collection (of personal data), profiling and behavioral targeting, and in particular is looking for "enforcing existing regulation on the Internet and to regulate where adequate response to consumer concerns on the issue of data collection". More specifically Meglena Kuneva proposes three particular strands of actions that must be addressed: privacy policies, commercial communications and commercial discrimination.

Expressed views

In October 2013, Kuneva announced her position strictly against the ban on land sale to foreigners that was voted by the Bulgarian Parliament. This closely matches the view the European Commission has taken on the matter.

In December 2013 she said that "she felt more pity than anger toward" Plamen Oresharski because he is not the real decision maker in the Council of Ministers.

Personal life

Kuneva's hobby is listening to classical music.