Elections 2009 - Top MEP Candidates
Meglena Kuneva
Biography
Meglena Shtilianova Kuneva was born in Sofia on June 22, 1957, in the family of popular movie actor Shtilian Kunev, who as a law student at the Sofia University, together with his father, a Sorbonne graduate, were sent and served time at the notorious Belene concentration camp for Communist regime opponents.
Kuneva graduated with a law degree from Sofia University in 1981. In 1984, she became a Doctor of Law. She worked as a journalist for the Law Program of the Bulgarian National Radio while being an Assistant Professor at Sofia University.
In 1991-2001, she held various positions at the administration of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) - from a legal advisor to directorate head. In the meantime, Kuneva specialized in foreign affairs and environmental law at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
In June 2001, she was elected a Member of Bulgarian Parliament as a representative of the NMSS party of the former Bulgarian Tsar Simeon Saxe-Coburg.
In August 2001, Kuneva left her position in the Bulgarian Parliament because she was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator of Bulgaria with the EU.
In 2002-2003, she represented the Bulgarian government at the Convention on the Future of Europe (the European Convention), which designed the EU Constitutional Treaty.
In May 2002, Kuneva was appointed Bulgaria's first Minister of EU Affairs in the NMSS Cabinet.
She held the same job after the 2005 parliamentary elections when NMSP became a coalition partner in the government of the so called three-way coalition of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the NMSP, and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) led by PM Sergey Stanishev. Kuneva was the only minister from the former Cabinet to retain her seat.
In October 2006, Kuneva was nominated to be Bulgaria's first member of the European Commission. The EC President Jose Manuel Barroso assigned her the post of Consumer Protection.
Kuneva was approved for the job by the European Parliament on December 12, 2006, with 583 votes "in favor", 21 votes "against", and 28 abstentions.
She commenced her mandate as EU Commissioner on January 1, 2007, when Bulgaria officially joined the EU.
On January 22, 2007, Meglena Kuneva took an Oath as a European Commissioner at the European Court in Luxembourg.
As Consumer Protection Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva has been interested in online data collection (of personal data), profiling and behavioral targeting, and in particular is looking to enforce existing regulation on the Internet and to address consumer concerns on the issue of data collection.
More specifically Commissioner Kuneva has proposed three particular strands of actions that must be addressed: privacy policies, commercial communications and commercial discrimination.
In December 2008, Kuneva was voted "European of the Year" by the readers of European Voice, and was selected as "Commissioner of the Year" by the European Agenda magazine.
In May 2009, Kuneva was nominated by her party, the National Movement for Stability and Progress, as the No. 1 candidate on the party ballot for the 2009 European Parliament Elections.
Meglena Kuneva is married to one of the best known financial experts in Bulgaria, Andrey Pramov. The two have one son, Alexander. Pramov is the son of Ivan Pramov, a high-ranking Communist Party functionary, and member of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The CEO of the Bulgarian National Television, Ulyana Pramova, is Kuneva's sister-in-law.
Meglena Kuneva is fluent in English, French, and Russian. She is a supporter of literature, and in 2008 she was chosen to be a member of the jury for the Vick Foundation for the selection of the 2008 Bulgaria Novel of the Year. She is the author of the book "Commentary on the Concession Law."
Kuneva is the recipient of the French Order L?gion d'Honneur; she has been elected Minister of the Year, Person of the Year and European of the Year for her contributions for the European integration of Bulgaria and her work as European Commissioner.
Electoral Performance
June 2001 - elected MP from the NMSS (NMSP) from the 19th Electoral District (Ruse)
Public Service Record
1991-2001 - various positions at Bulgaria's Council of Ministers - from legal advisor to directorate head
June - August 2001 - Member of the Bulgarian Parliament from the NMSS (NMSP)
August 2001 - May 2002 - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
August 2001 - December 2006 - Bulgaria's Chief Negotiator with the EU for the country's accession to the Union
May 2002 - December 2006 - Bulgaria's first Minister of EU Affairs - in both the Saxe-Coburg Cabinet (2002-2005) and the Stanishev Cabinet (2005-2006)
2002-2003 - represented Bulgaria at the Convention on the Future of Europe which drafted the EU Constitutional Treaty
January 2007 - 2009 - European Commissioner on Consumer Protection and Bulgaria's first ever member of the European Commission