Elżbieta Bieńkowska

Bieńkowska graduated from Jagiellonian University with a Master's degree in Oriental Philology in 1989.[3] She has also received a post-graduate Diploma from the Polish National School of Public Administration and afterwards a postgraduate studies MBA from Warsaw School of Economics.[3]

Bieńkowska's career in public administration started at Katowice City Council where she worked on regional contracts being promoted, in 1999, as head of Katowice's Department for Economy. Later that year, she was appointed Director of Regional Development for the Silesian Voivodeship, where she served until 2007.

Bieńkowska describes herself as a technocrat.[4] She is not a party member, and was elected to the Senate of Poland in 2011 as an independent candidate, backed by the Civic Platform.[5]

In the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Bieńkowska served as Minister for Infrastructure and Development for Poland, as well as Deputy Prime Minister from the end of 2013 until the end of September 2014. In this capacity, she was charge of allocating European Union funding and the country's transport infrastructure.[6] Under her leadership, the ministry was Poland’s second-largest department after the ministry of finance, with 1,600 employees and nine deputy ministers.[5] In February 2013, she secured €105.8 billion from the EU budget for 2014-20.[5]

On 3 September 2014, Bieńkowska was announced as the Polish nominee to the European Commission, in place of foreign affairs minister Radek Sikorski, who had been put forward in August in a bid to secure the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.[7]

On 10 September 2014, Juncker designated Bieńkowska as European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, following which, on 1 November 2014, she took office in the Juncker Commission.

Since 2015, Bieńkowska has been chairing the European Commission’s High-level Group of Personalities on Defence Research.[8]

• - Commander (with Sash), Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
• - Fire Service Medal (Gold), Katowice[9]

Bieńkowska is married and has three children.[5][10]

• Bieńkowski coat of arms

• www.premier.gov.pl
• www.elections2014.eu
• Bieńkowski / Princess Radziwiłł marriage
• www.fakt.pl

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