Dombrovskis to become EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity

BRUSSELS - European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday presented the new composition of the EC for the coming five years.

The new EC will start work on November 1.

Latvia will be represented in the European Commission by Valdis Dombrovskis who will serve as the Commissioner for Economy and Productivity and also the Commissioner for Implementation and Simplification.

Of the 27 commissioners confirmed on Tuesday, eleven (40 percent) are women.

"When I received the first set of nominations and candidates, we were on track for around 22 percent women and 78 percent men," von der Leyen said on Tuesday. "That was unacceptable. So I worked with the member states and we were able to improve the balance to 40 percent women and 60 percent men. And it shows that - as much as we have achieved - there is still so much more work to do," she added.

Estonia's former prime minister Kaja Kallas will serve as the Executive Vice-President for Foreign and Security Policy and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Defense Policy.

Meanwhile, Lithuania's Andrius Kubilius will serve as the Commissioner for Defense and Space. He will also work on developing the European Defence Union and boosting our investment and industrial capacity.