Lilyana Pavlova is the new Vice-President and Member of the Management Committee of the European Investment Bank (EIB). She took up her duties on the 1st of November. She is the first Bulgarian national to join the EU bank’s Management Committee.

Mrs Pavlova was appointed by the EIB’s Board of Governors at the proposal of the Finance Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria and with the agreement of the constituency of EIB shareholders composed of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. She succeeds Mr Vazil Hudák, whose mandate as Vice-President of the EIB terminated at the end of October.

Prior to her appointment, Lilyana Pavlova  held various public functions in Bulgaria, both in government and parliament. She has been Member of the Bulgarian Government since 2009, starting as a Deputy Minister and then twice as Minister of Regional Development and Public Works (2011-2013 and 2014-2017), the first woman to hold this function in Bulgaria.

From May 2017 to December 2018, she was Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2018, the first time that the country held the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. As such, she was responsible for the preparatory phase and the running of the Bulgarian Presidency, establishing the national programme and priorities, policy coordination, as well as relations with EU institutions.

She was a Member of Parliament in 2013 and most recently, since January 2019, where she was a Member of the Parliamentary Permanent Committee on EU Affairs and Control of EU Funds and the Committee on Legal Affairs.

Lilyana Pavlova is a Doctor of Economics and holds a Master of Public Administration and European Integration and a Bachelor in International Economic Relations.

Upon joining the EIB, Lilyana Pavlova said: “I am pleased to join the EU bank and to be part of an institution that fosters investments for a sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe and beyond. The EIB is a key multilateral institution, on which all EU Member States rely to make a difference in terms of investments and quality of projects financed. The competitiveness, cohesion and long-term sustainability of the European economy benefit significantly from the EIB and I am delighted to be able to contribute to this success story. The motto of the first-ever Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018 was “United We Stand Strong” and I believe this motto can apply to the EU bank as well”.

The Management Committee is the EIB’s permanent collegiate executive body, consisting of a President and eight Vice-Presidents. The Board of Governors – the Finance Ministers of the 28 EU Member States – appoints the members of the Management Committee.

Under the authority of Werner Hoyer, President of the EIB, the Management Committee collectively oversees the day-to-day running of the EIB as well as preparing and ensuring the implementation of the Board of Directors’ decisions.

The winning film features a young man, Antonin, suffering from fatigue as result of a long-term illness, and follows him as he takes up work in a bird sanctuary. The film combines Antonin’s diary-like reporting with documentary-style footage of his interactions with colleagues and the recovering birds. The result is a warm-hearted tale of rehabilitation through patience and care, told in a minimalist yet powerful way.

The jury were impressed by the film’s ‘intelligent, empathetic and even humorous approach to human fragility’, which creates a ‘captivating analogy between the recovery of the injured birds and the rehabilitation of the main protagonist’.

The Healthy Workplaces Film Award recognises talented directors who shed light on the risks and challenges that people face at work today. The aim is to encourage much-needed discussions on occupational safety and health (OSH). The winning documentary or animated film is chosen for its creative depiction of important OSH issues, including:

• workers’ physical and mental well-being;
• the effects of political and economic change on the work environment;
• workers’ rights;
• groups facing particular challenges, such as migrant or ageing workers.

EU-OSHA proudly supports the award, which raises awareness of OSH risks and seeks to promote a culture of prevention across Europe. Each year, the director of the winning film receives a €5,000 prize. The film is subtitled in multiple European languages and made available through an electronic platform to EU-OSHA’s network of national focal points, which organise film screenings.

This year’s nominated films cover a number of topical and important issues. For example, the Italian film Never Whistle Alone looks at whistleblowing in the modern workplace; My English Cousin shines a light on an Algerian migrant’s experiences of work in the United Kingdom; Taste of Hope follows workers as they form a cooperative and take over the French tea factory where they work; and the tense Nothing to Be Afraid Of documents the work of five women carrying out the dangerous work of removing mines in Azerbaijan.

An important platform for documentaries and animated films, DOK Leipzig attracts more than 47,000 visitors each year. Presenting over 300 films from more than 50 countries and organising over 100 world and international premieres, the festival encourages debate on social and political issues.

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​The Hague, 4 November 2019

With the support of Eurojust and Europol, after a joint action day last week, 19 key suspects, the alleged heads of an organised crime group (OCG) suspected of large-scale drug trafficking from Ivory Coast and Nigeria to Italy, were arrested in Italy and several other European countries in execution of European Arrest Warrants (EAWs). During the course of the investigation, 150 suspects were arrested. The network of intermediate suppliers used false bottoms in shoes and suitcases, and hidden pockets in clothing, to smuggle heroin (and other drugs) to the south of Italy. In total, 230 kg of heroin, 20 kg of cocaine and 2 kg of MDMA were seized.

The suspects apprehended in Italy raised no suspicions, as they lived a modest life, working as local entrepreneurs. An integral part of the OCG was made up of people who sewed hiding places for the drugs. Their labour was so important that they were paid more than US$ 1 000 for each suitcase. The trafficked narcotics were sometimes treated with spices to render them undetectable to drug-sniffing dogs and also undetectable via x-ray. The couriers were also undetectable, as they were never in contact with the drugs.

Photo © Shutterstock

The couriers departed directly from the places of production of narcotics, such as East Africa, Pakistan, China, Laos and Latin America (cocaine in various forms: paste, liquid and powder). After the first seizures, the drugs, still coming from those countries, were stored in Tanzania, South Africa and Brazil. From these countries, the drugs were transported to northern Europe, reaching Italy using the most diverse transportation means. Subsequently, the OCG began to use European couriers.

National authorities

IT: The investigations were directed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) Anti-Mafia Directorate of the District of Perugia, supported by the Carabinieri of Perugia and assisted by the Service for the International Cooperation of Police – Division SI.RE.NE.

Introductory statement by Gabriel Bernardino at the hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament