Violeta Bulc Explained

Violeta Bulc
Office:European Commissioner for Transport
President:Jean-Claude Juncker
Term Start:1 November 2014
Term End:1 December 2019
Predecessor:Siim Kallas
Successor:Adina-Ioana Vălean
Office1:Deputy Prime Minister of Slovenia
Primeminister1:Miro Cerar
Term Start1:19 September 2014
Term End1:1 November 2014
Predecessor1:Goran Manns
Successor1:Alenka Smerkolj
Birth Date:24 January 1964
Birth Place:Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
Party:Our Future
Education:University of Ljubljana
Golden Gate University

Violeta Bulc (born 24 January 1964) is a Slovenian politician who served as the European Commissioner for Transport from 2014 to 2019.

Early life

Bulc earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and informatics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, as well as a master's degree in information technology at the Golden Gate University of San Francisco. She then worked from 1991 to 1994 as an expert for wide area networks performance analyses at DHL in Burlingame, California. In 1994, she returned to Slovenia, where she worked as the manager of institutional traffic (until 1997) and then the director of carrier business (until 1999) for Telekom Slovenia. From 1999 to 2000 she was the vice-president of Telemach, a major telecommunications provider, and from 2000 to 2014 the CEO of Vibacom, Sustainable Strategies and Innovation Ecosystems.[1]

Political career

Bulc joined Slovenian politics together with Miro Cerar in 2013, and she was appointed head of the program committee of the Miro Cerar Party.[1]

Bulc served as a minister without portfolio responsible for development, strategic projects and cohesion and as deputy prime minister from 19 September 2014 until 1 November 2014 in the centre-left cabinet of Miro Cerar.[2]

Led by Margrethe Vestager, Bulc was among the seven-strong "Team Europe" that the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party picked to spearhead its pro-EU, liberal campaign ahead of the 2019 European elections.[3]

Other activities

In 2022, Bulc became a board member of the Joint European Disruptive Initiative.[4]

Critique over esotericism

On 10 October 2014, the Slovenian government announced that Bulc would be Slovenia's nominee for the position of the European Commissioner on the Juncker Commission, replacing Alenka Bratušek.[5] Bulc was criticized because of her esoteric views.[6] After a confirmation hearing in front of the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism, Bulc was assigned the transport portfolio.[7]

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Violeta Bulc - European Commission. 1 September 2015. European Commission.
  2. News: Violeta Bulc, MSc takes over GODC . Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy . 19 September 2014 . 10 October 2014.
  3. Mehreen Khan and Rochelle Toplensky (21 March 2019), Vestager discloses ambition to become next EU commission chief Financial Times.
  4. https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/election-season-amid-ukraine-war-mariupol-bombing-eu-mulls-more-defense-funds/ Brussels Playbook, March 17, 2022
  5. News: Violeta Bulc je slovenska kandidatka za evropsko komisarko . . 10 October 2014 . 10 October 2014.
  6. Web site: Violeta Bulc: Europa-Abgeordnete haben schwere Kritik an Esoterikerin - Spiegel Online. Spiegel Online, Hamburg. Germany. m.spiegel.de.
  7. News: Violeta Bulc Approved by European Parliament . . 21 October 2014 . 22 October 2014.