Jan Truszczyński, a former negotiator on Poland's entry to the European Union, will become head of the Directorate General for Education and Culture in the European Commission. He will assume the post in May 2010. The directorate has a staff of around 650 and an annual budget of almost 1.5 million euros. It deals with such issues as education, training, culture, youth, multilingualism, citizenship and sports. Truszczyński, 60, has worked for the European Commission since January 2007. He was first deputy director general for enlargement and then deputy director general for education and culture.

In 2001-2005, Truszczyński held the posts of under-secretary of state and then secretary of state at the Polish Foreign Ministry. In this capacity, he was the chief negotiator for Poland on its entry to the European Union. Earlier, in 1996-2001, he was the Polish ambassador to the European Union in Brussels.