Mariya Ivanova Gabriel is a Bulgarian politician and a member of the GERB party serving as European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth since 2019. She was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2017.
In the European Parliament, she served as Vice-President of the European People’s Party (EPP) group, Vice-President of EPP Women, and head of the Bulgarian EPP delegation. She was first appointed to the European Commission in 2017 as European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society to fill a spot left vacant by the departure of Kristalina Georgieva.