coordinating Latvia's position in the European Council and all Council formations. At the time, he also established the new development assistance policy for Latvia. In addition to his native Latvian he is fluent in English, German, French, and Russian, and has basic knowledge of Estonian. European Commission During the first Barroso Commission, starting in November 2004, he was the European Commissioner for Energy. In that capacity, he led the development of a more competitive, sustainable and secure European energy system, which is one of the crowning achievements of the Barroso I Commission. In doing so, he was instrumental in propelling EU energy issues into the centre of EU policy-making. In recognition of his leadership in European energy policy, The Economist magazine honoured him with the title "Eurocrat of the Year" in 2007. In 2009, Andris Piebalgs received the "Diamond Prize" from the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Katowice (Poland) for his work in developing a cohesive European Energy Policy for the further generations. In 2009, the Energy Efficiency Global Forum presented him the Energy Efficiency Visionary Awards for his "outstanding contributions to the advancement of energy efficiency". He was twice appointed Acting Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget in Janusz Lewandowski's stead, from 19 April 2014 – 25 May 2014 while he was on electoral campaign leave for the 2014 elections to the European Parliament and from 1 July 2014 – 16 July 2014 after he took up his seat. Selection hearing Energy On 15 November 2004 when questioned by the European Parliament as the Commissioner Designate for Energy, Piebalgs stressed the importance of environmental considerations in energy policy, and announced his intention to pursue a policy framework based on limiting growth in demand for energy while increasing diversity of supply. He was cautious on the question of support for nuclear energy, and said that he favoured an EU-wide regulatory framework for nuclear safety as a way of increasing the industry's transparency and levels of public acceptance. He also said that, "strict application of provisions of the Euratom Treaty is essential." Piebalgs expressed his unhappiness there was not yet a 'level playing field' for competition in the energy and gas industries across the union. He assigned high priority to reducing overall energy demand, especially by improving the energy efficiency of buildings, promoting the long-term development of hydrogen as a fuel source, improving the competitiveness of renewable energy sources through