Tanya Hristova (BG/EPP), Mayor of Gabrovo, has been elected today as new chair of the SEDEC Commission of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), the EU's assembly of cities and regions. SEDEC is one of CoR's six thematic commissions and stands for Social Policy, Employment, Research, Education and Culture.
Ms Hristova, who has been a member of the European Committee of the Regions since 2012, is taking over from José Ignacio Ceniceros, former President of the Regional Government of La Rioja (Spain).
Tanya Hristova, born in 1971, has been the mayor of Gabrovo Municipality since 2011 and leads the Bulgarian delegation at the CoR. She has also worked as a chief of the political office of Bulgaria's Minister of EU funds between 2010 and 2011. Ms Hristova is the first Bulgarian member elected to a leading position at the European Committee of the Regions.
"SEDEC Commission is leading the work of the European Committee of the Regions in many important fields that affect the everyday life of European citizens. These include ensuring social progress in all EU regions, guaranteeing equal opportunities to everyone, tackling brain drain and skill gaps, as well as closing the digital and innovation divide in Europe. We, local and regional leaders, can show the way forward. My city Gabrovo is a good example of how digitalisation and innovation can improve both productivity and standards of living", Ms Hristova said.
In the first meeting chaired by Ms Hristova, SEDEC members discussed the local and regulatory challenges related to work in digital platforms, which is the subject of a draft opinion prepared by Dimitrios Birmpas (EL/PES), Municipal Councillor of Egaleo. It calls for clear guidelines at European level to improve the labour conditions of platform workers and to tackle abusive practices such as bogus self-employment.
"Regulating work on digital platforms will create a level playing field between the traditional economy and the digital platform economy and tackle social dumping", Mr Birmpas affirms in his report, which will be adopted at the CoR plenary session in December.
Contact:
Lauri Ouvinen
Tel. +32 22822063
lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu