New polish member in the European Comission

The Council has decided by written procedure to appoint Pawel Samecki as new Commissioner on Regional Policy in place of his compatriot, Danuta Hübner, newly elected MEP in June elections.

Up to now a member of the governing council of the National Bank of Poland Pawel Samecki, 51, is from the July 4, 2009 the new European Commissioner for Regional Policy, replacing Danuta Hübner.

Pawel Samecki had occupied the posts of aggregate chief of the Polish European Integration Office and vice-minister of Finance before being appointed to the board of the Polish central bank in 2004.

After five years with the portfolio of Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner says leaves it in good condition, renovated and modernized to adapt to the changing needs of the EU after the integration of the 12 countries that joined between 2004 and 2007.

Commissioner Hübner is the fifth to leave the portfolio during the current mandate for Barroso (November 2004): after Markos Kyprianou (Health), Franco Frattini (Justice, Freedom and Security), Peter Mandelson (Trade) and the recent resignation of Bulgarian responsible for Financial Programming and Budget Dalia Grybauskaite, who has been replaced by the Latvian Algirdas Gediminas Semeta.