Andris Piebalgs is an experienced Latvian politician who occupied key positions in both national and European political fields.

Earlier in his career, while Latvia was still part of the Soviet Union, Andris Piebalgs worked as a teacher and was the headmaster of the 1st Secondary School of Valmiera (1980–1990).

On 7 May 1990, Andris Piebalgs was appointed as Minister of Education in the new Government, and one year later, in August 1991, Latvia regained full independence.

Andris Piebalgs first served as the ambassador of Latvia in Estonia (1995–1997), where he helped to solve the sea border issue between the two states.

In addition to his native Latvian he is fluent in English, German, French, and Russian, and has basic knowledge of Estonian.

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 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.

Following his hearing Piebalgs received strong backing from across the political spectrum, including the Greens, who had previously described László Kovács's performance on energy issues as "an offense to the parliament".