05. 02. 10. - 12:00

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05. 02. 10. - 12:00

Ferrero-Waldner says she may go into business

Austria’s outgoing EU Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has said she may go into business.

She said yesterday (Thurs) she had "some interesting options in international business", adding she might go to work at a Spanish firm. Her husband is a Spaniard.

Ferrero-Waldner, 61, declined to be more specific, saying "it is much too early."

She had made it clear last autumn she would have been happy to serve a second term but her People’s Party (ÖVP) declined to support her.

The European Parliament (EP) will vote on the next EU Commission on 9 February and the new commissioners are expected to be sworn in on the following day. ÖVP Science Minister Johannes Hahn will be Austria’s next EU commissioner and have the regional policy portfolio.

Ferrero-Waldner has had the trade, European neighbourhood policy and EuropeAid Co-operation Office portfolios since last October, when commissioners assumed interim status pending EP approval of the new commission.

Before that, she had been EU commissioner for external relations and European neighbourhood policy.

Austrian Times

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