The day after the elections – What’s next for Europe?

Violeta Bulc is the European commissioner for mobility and transport, a position she has held since November 2014. As commissioner, Bulc prioritized digitalization, decarbonization and innovation in the transport sector. Previously, she served as deputy prime minister of Slovenia with responsibility for development, strategic projects and cohesion. Bulc also served as chief of the program committee of Modern Centre party (SMC) from 2013 to 2014 and as CEO of Vibacom, a sustainability consultancy, from 2000 to 2014. She held various positions in the telecom industry, including vice-president of Telemach from 1999 to 2000, director of carrier business at Telekom Slovenia from 1997 to 1999. Bulc holds an MSc in information technology from Golden Gate University in San Francisco and a BSc in computer science and informatics from the University of Slovenia.

Reinhard Bütikofer is a German MEP for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, part of the Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL). Under the legislature 2014-2019, he was member on the committee for industry, research and energy (ITRE) and a substitute on the committee for foreign affairs (AFET). He was the first vice-chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China, a member of the delegation to the United States, and a substitute of the ASEAN delegation. Bütikofer is also co-chair of the European Green Party (EGP). Before his electionin 2009, Bütikofer was co-chair of the German Green Party BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN from 2002 to 2008 and party’s secretary general from 1998 to 2002.

Cornelius Hirsch joined POLITICO Europe as Intelligence Analyst in May 2019. Previously, he co-founded pollofpolls.eu, a polling data website acquired and integrated into POLITICO’s website. Poll of Polls offers professional polling aggregations for all upcoming national elections in Europe. In 2020, he completed his Ph.D. studies in economics and social sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) focusing on international trade, globalization and its interrelation with rural areas. Cornelius Hirsch holds an M.Sc. in agricultural economics from Humboldt-University Berlin and a B.Sc. in economics from the Free University Berlin. In 2020, he completed his Ph.D. studies in economics and social sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) focusing on international trade, globalization and its interrelation with rural areas. Cornelius Hirsch holds an M.Sc. in agricultural economics from Humboldt-University Berlin and a B.Sc. in economics from the Free University Berlin.

Dara Murphy has been European People’s Party (EPP) campaign director for the 2019 European elections since 2017. He was elected as EPP’s vice president in 2015. He is an Irish MP for Fine Gael, Ireland’s governing party which is affiliated with the EPP. Murphy was first elected to the Irish National Parliament (Dáil Éireann) in 2011 and re-elected in 2016. Murphy was. Previously, he has also served as minister of state for European affairs, data protection and EU digital single market from 2014 to 2017. Murphy holds a degree in Economics from University College Cork.

Martin Selmayr serves as Secretary-General of the European Commission, a position he has held since March 2018. He is in charge of overall coherence of the Commission’s work in shaping new policies and in steering them through the other EU institutions. Previously, Selmayr waschief of staff to the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2018. He has also worked as principal advisor in the European Commission’s department for economic and financial affairs (DG ECFIN). Selmayr has served as head of cabinet of former European Commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship Viviane Reding from 2010 to 2014. He joined the Commission in 2004 as spokesperson for the information society and media. He is the author of more than 70 law journal articles, book contributions and three books on EU legal issues, including most recently a leading commentary on the General Data Protection Regulation (Munich 2017) as co-author. Selmayr studied law at the Universities of Geneva, King's College London and the University of California (BerkeleyDavis). He holds a PhD in law from the University of Passau.