Bulgarian Commissioner-designate for Digital Economy and Society Portfolio Given Hearing by European Parliament Committees

Brussels, June 20 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - The European Parliament's Committees on Industry, Research and Energy and on Culture and Education Tuesday gave a hearing to Mariya Gabriel, the Bulgarian Commissioner-designate for the Digital Economy and Society portfolio.

Bulgaria has been without a representative in the European Commission since January 2017, when Commission Vice President Kristalina Georgieva left Brussels for a job with the World Bank.

Answering questions relating to the digital economy, Gabriel said cyber attacks were one of the worst challenges nowadays. The critical infrastructure must be protected, she said.

She also stressed the need to tackle unfair competition by some online platforms. Platforms are extremely important for the freedom of expression, therefore online content linked to terrorism and hate speech should be removed as quickly as possible.

Gabriel said this was the first time Europe had not played a central role in the technology revolution and stressed the need to invest in research.

Talking about journalism, she said she sets great store by quality journalism, which helps people have an informed opinion. Fake news and its damaging impact on the democratic values; the future of Euronews television; and gender equality were other topics discussed by the commissioner-designate.

Gabriel's answers were applauded several times.

The assessment of the hearing will become known on Wednesday.