The first (and only) casualty of the European Parliament hearings for Jean-Claude Juncker's new Commission so far, was Slovenia's Alenka Bratusek, who withdrew her candidacy for the post of Vice-President for Energy Union after being effectively vetoed by MEPs.

Violeta Bulc, Slovenia's Development Minister, is the new Vice-President for Energy Union in Jean-Claud Junker’s new Commission.  But who is Violeta Bulc?  Not your average bureaucrat it seems:

1. Interesting ideas about energy generation:  "Natural environmental heat can be transformed directly into electrical energy," says Bulc. A shame that she didn’t get Commission’s Energy Union brief really as it could have made for some interesting discussions.

2. She believes in 'syntrophy' - which is apparently something to do with 'the creative power of nature’.

3.  Positive values: Her business, Vibacom, is run on the values of "the power of positive energy and pure thoughts”. This "creates the conditions for prosperity and thrivability". Well, the EU could definitely do with an injection of positive energy.

4. Serious sporting prowess: Not only does she have a black belt in Tae Kwan Do, but she was also a professional basketball player in Yugoslavia, and won athletic championships in javelin. Eat your heart out Vladimir Putin.

5. She blogs: Violeta's blog is well worth a peruse. Here's a post from last month called, ‘The vibrations of the White Lions in the new Era’. http://ow.ly/Dh9Tu

6. She is a qualified Shaman and firewalker: She has a certificate from the Shamanic Academy in Scotland. She has also received a certificate for ‘firewalk’ and ‘breathwork’ instructor at the recognised school of transpersonal education, Sundoor.

7. She's got charisma: In 2010, she won the ‘Sunny Personality of the Year’ prize. A sunny disposition will help Bulc in Brussels which is hardly regarded as being among the most uplifting cities in Europe.

While conceding that she may be a little ’out there’, she certainly has the potential to shake up the dreary and self-regarding Brussels bubble!

Photo: Violeta Bulc