site.btaBulgarian MEPs' Questions to European Commissioner Candidate Ekaterina Zaharieva

Bulgarian MEPs joined European parliamentarians from other countries in addressing questions to Bulgaria’s candidate for EU Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, during her confirmation hearing at the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels on Tuesday.

Petar Volgin (Europe of Sovereign Nations): Is there a risk for the war economy to become the driving force behind your intended portfolio in the European Commission? How can you help prevent war from defeating peace in the framework of Startups, Research and Innovation?

E. Z.: I strongly hope that peace will prevail over war. Our security depends on Ukraine winning this war. The resources we provide and the efforts we make to help Ukraine win are not wasted money for us. They are investments in our security. Ukraine is fighting for our security. (Applause.)

Eva Maydell (European People’s Party), a member of the EP Industry, Research and Energy Committee: Europe is a science powerhouse, with one-third of the world’s scientific reports and many Nobel laureates coming from the EU. Still, Europe lags behind the United States and China in terms of economic competitiveness. How can funding be re-channelled to ensure that the European economy is innovative and growing?

E. Z.: The big difference between us and the United States, and also Japan as well as countries closer to us, lies in private investments. Only 40% of EU companies invest in research and innovation. In the United States, the share is 56%, and in Japan and South Korea, it is even higher. The EU needs to be clearer about its priorities and more focused. Pillar II of the Horizon Europe Programme lacks focus. The programme management is too complicated, and Pillar II lacks a sufficiently effective system to measure the amount of private investment and the contribution of industry. Stronger incentives are needed for the private sector to invest in innovation and science.

Tsvetelina Penkova (Socialists and Democrats), Vice Chair of the EP Industry, Research and Energy Committee: How far has the European Commission gone in adopting a definition of the term “startup company”? What legislative initiatives are in place to keep young entrepreneurs in Europe? In addition to subsidies and loans, what financial mechanisms can be used to encourage private investments in innovation and technology?

E. Z.: Without a legal definition of “startup,” we cannot set the scope of the regime. An analysis should be made to see how many companies registered in Europe will be affected. The European Innovation Act has serious issues with product testing. Another problem is that Europe is far behind the United States in the field of public procurement, a method which Europe almost never uses.

Hristo Petrov (Renew Europe), Vice Chair of the EP Culture and Education Committee: Should access to culture be inclusive in the context of the new instruments of the Horizon Europe Programme?

E. Z.: Leaving aside the fact that my portfolio is not directly related to culture, the inclusiveness of education and culture is very important. Inclusiveness should be promoted on the level of regions, not just countries. I am ready to work with you. You can count on my support in the drive for inclusiveness. Many of the so-called Widening countries (member states lagging behind under Horizon Europe) are below the average level of research and science.