Tanya Hristova (BG/EPP) was elected chair of the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) today. The Mayor of Gabrovo will chair the SEDEC commission work for 2.5 years, the second half of the Committee's current five-year mandate. In her new role, Ms Hristova will lead the EU regions' and cities' work on a wide range of topics, including employment and social policies, education and training, culture, equality and youth policy, as well as research, innovation and artificial intelligence.
Tanya Hristova, born in 1971, has been the mayor of Gabrovo Municipality since 2011 and leads the Bulgarian delegation at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) – the assembly of EU regions and cities, in which she has been a prominent member since 2012. Ms Hristova already chaired the SEDEC Commission briefly between September 2019 and February 2020. She has also worked as a chief of the political office of Bulgaria's Minister of EU funds between 2010 and 2011.
Speaking after her appointment, Ms Hristova said: "EU's future choices should be taken according to what our citizens demand. This is the main legacy of the Conference on the Future of Europe, and also the spirit of our work in the European Committee of the Regions, and in SEDEC especially. We're committed to engage with cities and regions to help providing answers to the persistent demands for equal opportunities and decent working conditions. To acknowledge the extraordinary enthusiasm of younger generations to build more inclusive and human societies. Place based research, quality education and skills, fertile innovation ecosystems where science meets creativity: these represent some of the key tools we promote in our daily activities in SEDEC. My commitment is to work, hand in hand with regional and local leaders, with partner EU Institutions, universities and SMEs, to turn our vision into a great success story."
Ms Hristova already led the proceedings at today's SEDEC Commission's meeting, which took exceptionally place in Brno, Czech Republic and will continue tomorrow with a conference on engaging youth in science and research. SEDEC members meet normally in Brussels, with the exception of one external meeting in another EU country every year.
During the meeting, Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga was appointed 2nd Vice-chair of SEDEC until 2025.