Adina Ioana Vălean is the Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Committee for Industry, Research and Energy. In her previous term, she served as Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. From 2014 to 2017, she was Vice-President of the European Parliament, on behalf of the EPP Group, in charge of ICT. Apart from her work in the Industry, Research and Energy Committee, she is also a Member of the Delegation for Relations with the United States of America and a Substitute Member in the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee. As Chair of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, her work focuses on telecommunications, energy, as well as research and innovation. In the previous mandate, she was the rapporteur on the Connecting Europe Facility, a financing instrument which aims at funding €33.2 billion worth of investments to improve Europe's transport, energy and digital networks. She takes an incisive approach towards reassessing public financing, which she thinks should be primarily used for completing the Single Market: by increasing competition and incentivising private investment. A strong believer in the benefits of strong EU-US relations, she is a Steering Committee Member of the Transatlantic Legislators’ Dialogue and has developed a keen interest in the negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the benefits of which she has long advocated. With a solid commitment to the internet economy, entrepreneurship and innovation, she was elected Member of the Steering Committee of the European Internet Forum, as well as Board Member of the knowledge4innovation platform. With a particular interest in securing the competitiveness of the European automotive industry, Adina Vălean is Co-Chair of the Forum for Mobility and Society. She is a Member of the Romanian National Liberal Party (PNL) and from 2004 to 2006 was a Member of the Romanian Parliament. Vălean’s main focuses, while in the National Parliament, concerned market and labour issues. Prior to that, she acted as the Secretary-General of the National Liberal Party's youth wing, and Secretary of the National Liberal Party Committee on business, privatisation and competition policy. She joined the National Liberal Party in 1999. Before becoming a politician, Adina Vălean was a social activist and member of several foundations and associations which promote tolerance, dialogue and a liberal economic market. She began her professional career as a maths teacher in Bucharest. She has a Master's degree in European Integration and Security Studies, postgraduate studies in National Security and Defence Management and a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics. She is married and has one child. MEP since 2007.