 In November 2019, the center-right government under Prime Minister Ludovic Orban put forward Vălean and Siegfried Mureșan as candidates to be the country's next European Commissioner.She was subsequently picked to be the next European Commissioner for Transport by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.In early March 2020, Vălean was appointed by von der Leyen to serve on the Commission's special task force to coordinate the European Union's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.