Viviane Reding (born 27 April 1951) is a Luxembourgish former politician of the Christian Social People's Party, part of the European People's Party. She served as Luxembourg's European Commissioner from 1999 to 2014, holding the portfolios of Education and Culture from 1999 to 2004, Information Society and Media from 2004 to 2010 and Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship from 2010 to 2014. She was subsequently a Member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2018 and of Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies from 2018 to 2022, when she retired from politics.
Before starting a professional career as a journalist for the leading newspaper in Luxembourg, the Luxemburger Wort, Reding obtained a doctorate in human sciences at the Sorbonne. From 1986 to 1998, she was President of the Luxembourg Union of Journalists. On 27 November 2009, she was elevated in the "Barroso II Commission" to vice-president responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship."Barroso gets new EU Commission team", BBC News, 25 November 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2009."Barroso II: 13 EPP Commissioners receive key portfolios", European People's Party, 27 November 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2009. She is also an advisor for the transatlantic think-tank European Horizons.
Political career
Role in Luxembourg politics Reding started her political career in 1979 as a Member of the Chamber of Deputies and held the following positions: President of social committee Member of the Office of the Chamber of Deputies Member of the Benelux Parliament Member of the North Atlantic Assembly (leader of Christian Democrat/Conservative group)
From 1981 to 1999, she was Communal conciliator of the city of Esch, in which she was President of the Cultural Affairs Committee from 1992 to 1999.
From 1988 to 1993, she was national president of the Christian-Social Women and from 1995 to 1999 and president of the Christian Social People's Party.
Member of the European Parliament, 1989–1999 Reding served as the leader of Luxembourg's EPP delegation in the European Parliament from 1989 to 1999 and she was a Member of the group's Bureau.
Within the European Parliament, she held positions as chairwoman of the Committee on Petitions for 3 years, and vice-chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs for 2 years each.
European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth, Media and Sport, 1999–2004 From 1999 to 2004, Reding was appointed Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth, Media and Sport.
In her first term as European Commissioner Viviane Reding pushed through the Erasmus Mundus expanding the co-operation between universities and university students of the European Union and the rest of the world. Among other achievements she has also played a key role in strengthening the Culture 2000 programme and the EU MEDIA programme.(Press Release) The Commission proposes extending the Culture 2000 and MEDIA programmes up to 2006. Europa (web portal).
European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, 2004–2010 In 2004 Reding became Commissioner for Information Society and Media.
While serving in the European Commission under President Barroso, Reding found a relatively popular policy in lowering roaming charges of mobile phones when travelling within the European Union, stating: "For years, mobile roaming charges have remained unjustifiably high. We are therefore tackling one the last borders within Europe's internal market".Roaming Charges Portal European Commission. Her legislation to cap roaming charges was approved by the Parliament in April 2007.European parliament backs roaming price cuts Computer Business Review Online.
On 7 April 2006 the commission launched the new ".eu" TLD for websites for EU companies and citizens wishing to have a non-national European internet address. This has proven popular with 2.5 million being registered by April 2007. It is now the seventh most popular TLD worldwide, and third in Europe (after .de and .uk)..eu Domain Names Top 2.5M in ucatYear One Huffington Post.
In an unsuccessful bid to centralize regulatory oversight, Reding proposed in 2007 that the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) be folded into a new European Electronic Communications Market Authority (EECMA).Lorraine Mallinder (14 May 2008), Enisa – an agency fighting for its survival European Voice.
Reding also promoted the use of the 112, the Single European Emergency Number following the European Union Directive 2002/22/EC.(Press Release) Viviane Reding Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media 112, the Single European Emergency Number : the need for action Conference on the Single European Emergency No. 112Brussels, 11 October 2005. Europa.eu (2 May 2013).
Reding also proposed that major European telecom companies be forced to separate their network and service operations to promote competition in the market. The companies, including France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, would still own their networks but the separate management structure would be obliged to treat other operators on an equal basis in offering access to the network. This is opposed to separate ideas to force a full break-up of such companies.EU Commissioner favours /elecoms break-up Financial Times.
In 2008 the European Parliament voted to pass the "Telecoms Package", which would render the entire market a region into one market, making it easier to sell internet and phone services in EU, with the goal of making the telecom prices cheaper for customers in European Union. Among the many amendments to the proposal, amendment 138 was voted in favour with 574 votes for, and 73 against. This particular amendment requires any termination of internet subscription to be heard in front of a judge. Reding is known as an advocate for an open Internet, resisting attempts in 2010 by her colleague, Swedish EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, to block access to websites. In 2012 she disputed with EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht 2012 over the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).discussion. Iptegrity.com (23 February 2012). She favoured that amendment leading to the defeat of three-strikes policies such as those promoted by France's Hadopi law.
Vice-President of the European Commission, 2010–2014 In June 2009, Reding was elected Member of the European Parliament, heading the list of the Christian Social People's Party.Election pour la Chambre des. (PDF).
On 9 February 2010, Reding was confirmed in her third term as European Commissioner becoming vice-president and commissioner responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. She was also given responsibility for the commission's Directorate-General for Communication.Simon Taylor (27 November 2009), Commission portfolios re-shaped European Voice. In May 2010, Reding succeeded in having the original Directorate for Justice, Freedom and Security split in two, with the resulting Directorate-General for Justice – responsible for civil and criminal justice, fundamental rights, and citizenship – subsequently being added to her portfolio.Simon Taylor (26 May 2010), Reding gets her way as justice department splits in two European Voice.
Upon taking office she put in place a truly EU Justice policy launching a series of groundbreaking proposals in the field of civil, commercial and criminal justiceVice-President Viviane RedingEuropean Commission – The European Area of Justice. Ec.europa.eu (27 October 2010). in line with the ambitions set by the Treaty of Lisbon to establish a European area of justice. This included proposals to strengthen the rights of people in criminal proceedings, both as accused(Press Release) EU rules to ease cross-border successions are now law. Europa (web portal). and as victims.(Press Release) Victims' rights: EU Justice Commissioner Reding welcomes double vote of support from European Parliamentarians. Europa (web portal). Many of these proposals are becoming European law and consequently improving the rights of citizens across the European Union. She has also initiated a series of proposals aimed at making justice contribute for growth enabling both businesses and consumers to benefit fully from their rights in the European single market. These included proposals in field of consumer rights,(Press Release) New EU rules on consumer rights to enter into force. Europa (web portal). in the field of cross order recovery of debts,(Press Release) European Commission to help businesses recover an extra €600 million in cross-border debts. Europa (web portal). sales law and data protection. Viviane Reding has also put in practice a fundamental rights culture across the European institutions and their policies. In October 2010 she set out a strategy and a methodology to achieve that end in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. She has also put in motion a citizenship-centred agenda with the drafting of the first-ever EU Citizenship report in October 2010Vice-President Viviane RedingMaking citizens’ lives easier – Making citizens’ lives easier. European Commission. proposing concrete measures to make European Union citizens' lives easier.
In addition, Reding also pushed for strengthening the EU's commitment to equality between women and menPresident José Manuel Barroso – Women's Charter: Barroso's commitment to gender equality. European Commission. and consequently adopted a Women's Charter.EN. (PDF). Moreover, Viviane Reding has also presented measuresVice-President Viviane RedingWomen on the Board Pledge for Europe – Women on the Board Pledge for Europe. European Commission.(Press Release) European Commission weighs options to break the ‛glass ceiling’ for women on company boards . Europa (web portal).(Press Release) Women on Boards: Vice-President Viviane Reding meets with leaders of Europe's business schools and industry. Europa (web portal). to improve the representation of women in boardrooms of publicly listed companies.Women in business: Waving a big stick. The Economist (10 March 2012). In September 2012 it became known that Reding was working on a proposal for introducing the 40% rule opening the way for women to be more represented in supervisory boards or non-executive board members of public listed companies in Europe. This proposal has generated a vocal debate across Europe with disparate groups of stakeholders in favour and against. In response to the specific opposition by a group of only male Ambassadors or Permanent Representative of European Union Member States Reding stated that "thankfully, European laws on important topics like this are not made by nine men in dark suits behind closed doors, but rather in a democratic process". After a long discussion in the European Commission Mrs Reding's ideas, shared, among others, by the President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso and the Commissioners with economic portfolios (Joaquín Almunia, Antonio Tajani, Olli Rehn, Michel Barnier and Laszlo Andor) prevailed over the views of fellow Commissioners such as Neelie Kroes, Catherine Ashton, Cecilia Malmström and Janusz Lewandowski and a proposal for a Directive was adopted on 14 November 2012.(Press Release) Women on Boards: Commission proposes 40% objective. Europa (web portal). All major political parties in the European Parliament welcomed the proposal.Women on Boards: EPP Group welcomes Commission proposal. – 14/11/2012 – EPP Group. Eppgroup.eu (14 November 2012).Press Release. Alde.eu (14 November 2012).
She also pushed measures to improve the rights of people with disabilities across Europe by eradicating discrimination on the grounds of disability and eliminating the barriers faced by Europeans with disabilities whenever accessing goods and services.