Violeta Bulc
{{Short description|Slovenian politician (born 1964)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Violeta Bulc
| image = Violeta Bulc in Ljubljana, March 2022.jpg
| caption = Bulc in 2022
| office = European Commissioner for Transport
| president = Jean-Claude Juncker
| term_start = 1 November 2014
| term_end = 1 December 2019
| predecessor = Siim Kallas
| successor = Adina-Ioana Vălean
| office1 = Deputy Prime Minister of Slovenia
| primeminister1 = Miro Cerar
| term_start1 = 19 September 2014
| term_end1 = 1 November 2014
| predecessor1 = Goran Manns
| successor1 = Alenka Smerkolj
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|1|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
{{small|(now Slovenia)}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Our Future
| education = University of Ljubljana
Golden Gate University
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}Violeta Bulc (born 24 January 1964) is a Slovenian politician who served as the European Commissioner for Transport from 2014 to 2019.
Early life
Bulc earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and informatics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, as well as a master's degree in information technology at the Golden Gate University of San Francisco. She then worked from 1991 to 1994 as an expert for wide area networks performance analyses at DHL in Burlingame, California. In 1994, she returned to Slovenia, where she worked as the manager of institutional traffic (until 1997) and then the director of carrier business (until 1999) for Telekom Slovenia. From 1999 to 2000 she was the vice-president of Telemach, a major telecommunications provider, and from 2000 to 2014 the CEO of Vibacom, Sustainable Strategies and Innovation Ecosystems.{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2014-2019/bulc_en#timeline|title=Violeta Bulc - European Commission|date=1 September 2015|website=European Commission}}
Political career
Bulc joined Slovenian politics together with Miro Cerar in 2013, and she was appointed head of the program committee of the Miro Cerar Party.
Bulc served as a minister without portfolio responsible for development, strategic projects and cohesion and as deputy prime minister from 19 September 2014 until 1 November 2014 in the centre-left cabinet of Miro Cerar.{{cite news |url=http://www.svrk.gov.si/nc/en/media_room/news/article/1328/5827/ |title=Violeta Bulc, MSc takes over GODC |publisher=Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy |date=19 September 2014 |access-date=10 October 2014}}
Led by Margrethe Vestager, Bulc was among the seven-strong "Team Europe" that the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party picked to spearhead its pro-EU, liberal campaign ahead of the 2019 European elections.Mehreen Khan and Rochelle Toplensky (21 March 2019), [https://www.ft.com/content/e39cc3ae-4bdb-11e9-bbc9-6917dce3dc62 Vestager discloses ambition to become next EU commission chief] Financial Times.
Other activities
Critique over esotericism
On 10 October 2014, the Slovenian government announced that Bulc would be Slovenia's nominee for the position of the European Commissioner on the Juncker Commission, replacing Alenka Bratušek.{{cite news |url=http://www.rtvslo.si/evropska-unija/violeta-bulc-z-eno-nogo-ze-v-bruslju-koalicija-nezadovoljna/348369 |title=Violeta Bulc je slovenska kandidatka za evropsko komisarko |publisher=RTV SLO |date=10 October 2014 |access-date=10 October 2014}}
Bulc was criticized because of her esoteric views.{{cite web|url=http://m.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/violeta-bulc-europa-abgeordnete-haben-schwere-kritik-an-esoterikerin-a-997410.html|title=Violeta Bulc: Europa-Abgeordnete haben schwere Kritik an Esoterikerin - Spiegel Online|first=Spiegel Online, Hamburg|last=Germany|website=m.spiegel.de}}
After a confirmation hearing in front of the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism, Bulc was assigned the transport portfolio.{{cite news |url=http://www.sloveniatimes.com/violeta-bulc-approved-by-european-parliament |title=Violeta Bulc Approved by European Parliament |publisher=Sloveniatimes.com |date=21 October 2014 |access-date=22 October 2014}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Janez Potočnik}}
{{s-ttl|title=Slovenian European Commissioner|years=2014–2019}}
{{s-aft|after=Janez Lenarčič}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Siim Kallas}}
{{s-ttl|title=European Commissioner for Transport|years=2014–2019}}
{{s-aft|after=Adina-Ioana Vălean}}
{{s-end}}
{{Juncker Commission}}{{European Commissioners from Slovenia}}{{European Commissioner for Transport}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulc, Violeta}}
Category:Golden Gate University alumni
Category:Modern Centre Party politicians
Category:Politicians from Ljubljana
Category:Slovenian European commissioners
Category:University of Ljubljana alumni
Category:Women European commissioners
Category:Women government ministers of Slovenia
Category:European commissioners (2014–2019)
Category:21st-century Slovenian women politicians