Kalniete got a short-term apartment lease while she awaits confirmation

Sandra Kalniete is the new commissioner representing Latvia at the European Commission. Here she gives her first impressions as a newcomer to the job and on what her job entails.

I've been here for two weeks now, since 3 May.

It has seemed much longer because when you start something new, the intensity of everything, the way you are trying to learn everything is very challenging.

The most challenging thing for me is that I was previously a career diplomat and that I have been assigned to shadow Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler.

It is a subject that is very challenging for me as I have never done it before - for 14 years I worked in foreign relations.

LIFE IN DATES 1952: Born in Siberia, Russia, where her family was deported after the Soviet occupation of the Baltics in 1941 1977-81: Latvian Academy of Art 1987-88: General Secretary, Latvian Artists' Union 1988-90: Latvian Popular Front: General Secretary of the LPF Co-ordinating Council, Deputy Chairman 1990-93: Deputy Foreign Minister 1992: Institute for International Studies, Leeds University 1993-97: Ambassador to the UN, Geneva 1995: Graduate Institute of International Affairs, University of Geneva 1996: Master of Art History 1997-2002: Ambassador in France 2000-2002: Ambassador to Unesco 2002-2004: Foreign Minister

In practice, the political responsibility of the portfolio lies with Commissioner Fischler, but I have to fully cover all questions.

Practically speaking it is a great opportunity for me to work with him, his team is brilliant and they are very supportive.

Also it gives me the opportunity to see how the commissioner works, how he prepares himself for decisions and how he prepares himself for parliament.

I will shadow Commissioner Fischler until 1 November [when the new commission comes in].

The real work with the new Commission will not begin till August.

A new Commission president is to be named by the end of June and from that time there will be in effect two presidents.

It will be like working for an outgoing government - no important decisions will be taken.

Portfolio assigned

This means that for commissioners like me, probably in one or two months after my nomination, I will find out what my next portfolio will be.

The president will divide up work among 25 commissioners

Then there will be more questioning from Parliament.

I shall have no influence on which portfolio I shall get.

The new president's first task will be to decide on the redistribution of portfolios.

According to Nice treaty, there will be one commissioner for each EU country, so 25 commissioners and five portfolios will need to be divided up.

Or they may find another way of dividing portfolios between all the commissioners.

Biggest success

I have rented an apartment here for six months only as I need to await confirmation from the new president that he will accept me as commissioner.

As president, he has the right to say no.

I already know Brussels quite well. I represented my country in Brussels, and used to come here regularly when I was ambassador in Paris.

My biggest success so far has been to pass the evaluation at the Q&A session in Parliament for new commissioners.

We were not supposed to be questioned on the specifics of the portfolio, but MEPs wanted to know if we had detailed knowledge anyway.

It was the second most important accomplishment of my life.

It was very difficult for me as I had just learnt all the details on subjects such as fisheries, genetically modified organisms, the Mediterranean sea, and so on.

The first was when I applied to study art at the Academy of Art in Latvia and I got in, but the level of difficulty was almost the same.

No cash

My main problem so far is that everything has been very fragmented workwise. Besides I have had very practical problems, such as getting a credit card or a cash card.

The administrative services of the Commission are a huge machine, they move rather slowly. It is not up to me to change it though, as I am here to think about policies rather than management.

One of the reasons it has taken time is that everything started from 1 May which has not been very long. The vote in Parliament on approving the new commissioners was on 5 May.

These five days were like a transitional period where we were nowhere as there was no legal basis for our being here and to proceed with some necessities for new commissioners. We had offices, but we were not yet commissioners.

For Commission meetings I use English, but I also try to use as much French as possible because I believe the balance of languages has to be preserved Sandra Kalniete

At the moment I work on average from 0900 until 1930.

Days can be fragmented so I prefer to stay a few hours longer to make sure I am on top of everything.

I don't feel the hours are particularly long - it was much tougher as [Latvian Foreign] minister with a much tougher agenda.

Requests for meetings and invitations are coming with amazing speed however, and I shall be travelling a lot.

Next week for example I am going to Latvia for a mission.

The new commissioners are also the main communicators with their own countries in explaining how the Commission and the EU work.

I shall visit some farms and food-processing enterprises and meet farmers there to discuss specific farming questions.

There is often no clear idea in member states of what is down to national decision-making and what is down to EU decision-making.

Local governments sometimes try to blame the EU for certain decisions taken at national level.

Multi-lingual

I speak Latvian, English, French and Russian.

For Commission meetings I use English, but I also try to use as much French as possible because I believe the balance of languages has to be preserved in Europe.

Whenever I go to Parliament, I express myself in Latvian.

For the Q&A session to new commissioners in Parliament, I used French and English, because I know better all the terminology for agriculture and fisheries in those languages.

I haven't spent much time with my fellow new commissioners yet as we are all very busy.

My work at the commission is much more autonomous than in government.

As ministers we were responsible for our own portfolio, but our decisions were linked and we prepared our decisions together.

But I have only been here for two weeks and it is all very new, so I expect things might change.

What should incoming EU commissioners focus on as they prepare for their new jobs? What issues are most important to you? Send us your comments.

I would like to say how interesting your interview with the new Latvian Commissioner Sandra Kalniete was. She sounds an incredibly competent lady and just the type of person the European Commission needs. Thank you too for conducting an interview with a member of the European Commission. One of the reasons the British public takes no interest in or doesn't agree with European political institutions is that they don't know anything about them and how they work. This was a very insightful interview. More please!
Miss Jennie Bradley, Tamworth, UK

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