Commitments made at the hearing of Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner-designate for Startups, Research and Innovation

As part of the confirmation hearings process, Commissioner-designate Ekaterina Zaharieva responded in writing to questions posed by Parliament and appeared before the ITRE committee on 5 November 2024 to answer further questions from MEPs belonging to the committee, as well as from the Chair of the CULT invited committee. The Commissioner-designate made a number of commitments in her written and oral responses. These are highlighted in this document, which has been produced to support Parliament's scrutiny of the Commission over the course of the 2024-2029 term, including through the Committees' annual structured dialogue with the Commission. These commitments refer to her portfolio Startups, Research and Innovation, as described in the mission letter sent to her by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. The mission letter also specifies that the Commissioner-designate will work under the guidance of the Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and the Industrial Strategy. She will also work under the guidance of the Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy on matters related to tech sovereignty. The Directorate-General for Innovation and Research, the Joint Research Centre and a taskforce on startups will support her.