8) Violeta Bulc, EU Transport Commissioner
Solvenian Bulc replaced Siim Kallas as European Commissioner for mobility and transport in October, and will hold the post until 2019. However Bulc isn’t a career politician in the true Brussels bureaucrat stereotype.
She used to work for a Slovenian telecoms supplier and, curiously, admits to helping create the “network monitoring performance system” for a “global logistics company”.
She will have a lot in her inbox to tackle over the next five years: Kallas pursued an agenda that was pro-liberalisation with the opening up of cabotage rules. Bulc, in her confirmation hearing to the European Parliament, said that she wants an open market to optimise logistics. She also sais she would pursue fair social conditions for employees in the sector. She wants to foster a culture of compliance across the EU. She wants the impact of transport on the environment to be reduced.
Add into that rubberstamping legislation to change European length restrictions for new-build trucks, encouraging more aerodynamic and efficient designs Bulc will be at the forefront of change.
Over the next 20 days we will be counting down our Top 20. As ever, we’d welcome your feedback and input into the debate. Send us your thoughts on Twitter - @Motor_Transport - using the hashtag #MTPowerPlayers