Eva Maydell (born Paunova; 26 January 1986) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n politician. She is a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

(EPP Group) and President of the European Movement International. Maydell was first elected to the European Parliament in 2014 at age 28, the youngest member of the EPP Group at the time. She was re-elected in 2019 and is serving her second term as an MEP. Maydell was awarded the "Best Newcomer MEP" award and the "New Technologies" award. She was featured in ''Forbes''' "30 under 30" Europe selection and in ''POLITICO'''s 40 most influential MEPs.

Early life and education

Eva Maydell was born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

on 26 January 1986. She is an alumna of

John Cabot University John Cabot University (JCU) is a private American-style university in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1972 and it offers undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, and study abroad programs to English-speaking students. The university has more tha ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Oxford University Internet Institute.

Political career

Maydell stood for the European Parliament and became one of Bulgaria's seventeen MEPs on 1 July 2014. At the time, she was the youngest member of the EPP Group. In her first term from 2014 until 2019, she served on the

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of th ...

(IMCO) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). In 2019, Maydell was reelected to the European Parliament where she continues to serve on the ECON committee and on the

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its areas of responsibility relate to industry, especially technology-intensive manufacturing, information technology, and telecommunications. It also ...

(ITRE). She is a member of the Delegation for relations with Japan as well as the Delegation for relations with the United States. In 2020, Maydell will be the EPP Group rapporteur on the New European Data Strategy. Eva Maydell is also the EPP Group Coordinator/Speaker in the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age. Maydell is Chair of the Young Members Network of the EPP Group comprising over 30 MEPs and 350 members of EU national parliaments. She is also co-chair of the European Parliament Digital and AI Intergroup.

Other activities

In 2015, Maydell co-founded "Education Bulgaria 2030" - a non-profit association of more than 40 organizations and individuals, which aims to motivate young people to develop their knowledge and skills and encourages businesses to hire young people. One of the organization's main goals is to reduce functional illiteracy by 2030 and to modernize the Bulgarian educational curriculum. In 2017, Maydell was the first woman and first Eastern European elected as President of European Movement International (EMI). In this role, Maydell hosts pan-European conferences, meetings, and initiatives that promote European unity and attempt to tackle some of Europe's biggest problems. Maydell is the initiator of the yearly "Regulation4Innovation" conference in Brussels which brings together experts and businesspeople in the field of technology to discuss the latest developments in the sector. Maydell is a board member of the World Economic Forum's Digital Leaders of Europe, which seeks to seeks to develop and foster a Pan-European ecosystem by building bridges between founders, investors, and incubators as well as public figures and corporate representatives. She is also a Member of the Global Future Council of Europe. Maydell is a member of the council of the

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

(ECFR) and a member of the board of trustees of

Friends of Europe Friends of Europe is a Brussels-based, not-for-profit think-tank for European Union policy analysis and debate. The organisation, established in 1999, has no political or national allegiance and is independent of the EU institutions. Its declared ...

Recognition

* In 2015, '' Parliament Magazine'' named Maydell the European Parliament's "best newcomer". * ''Forbes' "''30 under 30" Europe selection 2016. * ''POLITICOs 40 most influential MEPs. * Parliament Magazine 2017 "New Technologies" award. * ''The Financial Times Top 100 Most Influential Persons in Central and Eastern Europe * "POLITICO 28" list of people who shape Europe * POLITICO's 2018 Women who shape Brussels. * She was also named European Young Leader by the Brussels-based

think tank in 2017.

External links

European Parliament profile

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maydell, Eva 1986 births Living people 21st-century Bulgarian women politicians 21st-century Bulgarian politicians GERB MEPs MEPs for Bulgaria 2014–2019 Politicians from Sofia Women MEPs for Bulgaria MEPs for Bulgaria 2019–2024