[5] On 22 May 2023, a coalition of GERB and We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) agreed to form a government with two rotating prime ministers, Nikolai Denkov and Gabriel.

As member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Mariya Gabriel focused her activities on the migration policy of the European Union, Schengen, visa liberalisation agreements with third countries, security issues, the fight against terrorism and human trafficking.

She was a negotiator of the EPP Group on a regular basis for resolutions related to human rights violations, democracy and the rule of law.

From 2009 Mariya Gabriel was an active member of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, which brings together parliamentarians from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the European Union.

[10] On 10 May 2017 Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, announced that Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov had nominated Mariya Gabriel to replace Kristalina Georgieva as Commissioner.

Holding a briefing with GERB-SDS Parliamentary Group, on the 11th of May, Gabriel outlined some of her policy priorities, specifically including judicial reform and the removal of General-Prosecutor Ivan Geshev.

Following the outlining of her priorities, Gabriel undertook consultations with a number of parliamentary represented parties who could support her government: PP-DB, DPS, BSP and ITN.

[21] On 22 May 2023, a coalition of GERB and We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) agreed to form a government with two rotating prime ministers, Nikolai Denkov and Gabriel.

[24] On the 30th of May, Gabriel outlined the terms for renewed negotiations, specifically insisting on a "rethinking" of the composition of the prospective Denkov cabinet to include more experts.

[28] Shortly thereafter, GERB leader, Boyko Borisov, announced that Mariya Gabriel would head a negotiation team in order to reach an agreement for continued co-governance.

[38] Subsequently, PPDB held a press briefing at which they announced that they had not agreed to the government, leading to most of their ministers declaring their intention to not participate in a Gabriel cabinet.

[39] During the briefing, PP co-leader and Acting Finance Minister, Asen Vasilev, called Mariya Gabriel "the new, more beautiful face of the mafia in Bulgaria".

[40] Appearing on the BNT show, Panorama, Gabriel defended her decision to return the first mandate completed by referencing the need for a stable government and confirmed that the main disagreements between PPDB and GERB were relatively minor.

[41] On 24 March, in an emergency press briefing, Gabriel confirmed that attempts at renewed negotiations had ended in failure due to "new demands" presented by PPDB, such as the removal of the incumbent Minister of Interior, Kalin Stoyanov.

In 2017, in the midst of her candidacy as EU commissioner, Bulgarian reporters discovered that she was renting a plush apartment from the municipality in the upscale Lozenets district of Sofia for just €200 a month — about a quarter of the market rate.

The preferential rental agreement was also missing from the declaration of financial interests she submitted for the job as head of the European Commission's digital economy and society portfolio.