Viviane Reding

Viviane Reding
European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 February 2010
President	José Manuel Barroso
Preceded by	Jacques Barrot (Justice, Freedom and Security)
European Commissioner for Information Society and Media
In office 22 November 2004 – 9 February 2010
President	José Manuel Barroso
Preceded by	Ján Figeľ Olli Rehn (Enterprise and Information Society)
Succeeded by	Neelie Kroes (Digital Agenda)
European Commissioner for Education and Culture
In office 13 September 1999 – 21 November 2004 Serving with Dalia Grybauskaitė
President	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Marcelino Oreja (Culture)
Succeeded by	Ján Figeľ (Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism)
Personal details
Born	(1951-04-27) 27 April 1951 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Political party	Christian Social People's Party
Alma mater	University of Paris
Profession	Journalist

Viviane Reding (born 27 April 1951 in Esch-sur-Alzette) is a Luxembourg politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Before starting a professional career as a journalist for the leading newspaper in Luxembourg, the Luxemburger Wort, she obtained a doctorate in human sciences at the Sorbonne. From 1986 to 1998, she was President of the Luxembourg Union of Journalists. On November 27, 2009, she was upgraded in the "Barroso II Commission" to Vice-President responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, and is affiliated with the European People's Party (EPP).

She is married and has three children.

Political career

She started her political career in 1979, as a Member of the Luxembourg Parliament 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)

She then became leader of Luxembourg’s EPP delegation in the European Parliament from 1989 to 1999 and she was a Member of the group's office.

Within the European Parliament, she has held positions as President of the Petitions Committee for about 3 years, and Vice-President of the Social Committee and the Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs Committee for about 2 years each.

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 Vice-president of the Christian Social People's Party.

From 1999 to 2004, she was appointed Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth, Media and Sport and in 2004 her responsibility changed to Information Society and Media. She is currently looking into the regulation on prices of roaming within the EU.

She has earned the following prizes and distinctions:

• 1992 St George’s Cross from the Generalitat of Catalunya
• 2001 Gold Medal of the European Merit Foundation
• 2004 Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Hu Chen University of Taiwan
• 2004 Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Genoa
• 2004 Robert Schuman Medal
• 2004 Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Turin
• 2007 Internet Villain award at the UK Internet Service Providers Association Awards

Commissioner

While serving in the European Commission under President Barroso, Viviane Reding found a relatively popular policy in seeking to lower 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 of the last borders within Europe's internal market". Her legislation to cap roaming charges was approved by the Parliament in April 2007.

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 proved 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).

Reding has 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.

In 2008, the EU Parliament voted to pass the "Telecoms Package" which would render the entire markets of the 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 EU. Among the many amendments to the proposal, amendment 138 was voted in favor of with 574 votes for, and 73 against. This particular amendment would require any termination of internet subscription to be heard in front of a judge. Viviane Reding said afterward that she hoped she could force the removal of the amendment, thus to some observers overruling the democratic process of the 647 cast votes.

On 7 July 2010, Reding had an official meeting with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, in order to launch joint talks on the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. On that very occasion, she was assaulted by a man with mental health problems in front of the Palace of Europe.

Roma controversy

Main article: French Roma repatriation

In a public statement, Reding likened the 2010 French deportations of the Roma to those made from France by the occupying German forces during World War II: "I personally have been appalled by a situation which gave the impression that people are being removed from a Member State of the European Union just because they belong to a certain ethnic minority. This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War".

The French government's claim that it was expulsing people on legal rather than ethnic grounds was later claimed to be "openly contradicted by an administrative circular issued by the same government" mentioning the illegal Roma camps specifically ("en priorité ceux des Roms"). This mention could be explained by the fact that Romas account for the overwhelming majority of foreign migrants setting up camps in France, and that "most Roma from the two countries [Bulgaria and Romania] are thought to be in France illegally". French President Nicolas Sarkozy pointed out that the directive in question was canceled as soon as his government became aware of it. He stated that France continues to welcome refugees and that "we refuse the creation of slums... that are unworthy of the values of the French Republic or of European ideals." He also pointed out that 80% of the camps removed during August 2010 were of "gens du voyage", i.e. less than 20% were Roma camps; that most of the campers thus removed where not foreign citizens; and that all removals were done based on judicial decisions, i.e. they were not unilateral police operations as would be based on a circular directive.

The French government responded by saying Reding had made an "unseemly blunder" and defended France as "the mother of human rights." President Sarkozy denounced Mrs. Reding's comments as "scandalous" and stated that "if Luxembourg wants to take in Romas, that is no problem" as far as France is concerned. He also pointed out that Mrs Reding had been silent during larger-scale expulsions by other countries in earlier years, including by Italy specifically of its Romas during 2009, and when police rejected Roma travelers trying to enter Luxembourg. French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said that in her statement Reding "intentionally skids, if I may say, that is she uses an expression aimed to shock, that contains an anachronic fallacy, and that creates a false amalgam".

Mrs Reding announced her intention to sue France at the European Court of Justice within two weeks. She subsequently privately recanted the historical comparison in her initial statement. Her office apologized for the analogy. On September 17th The center-left Suddeutsche Zeitung argued:

"It's malicious of Reding to condemn the clearing of illegal camps and the eviction of Romanian and Bulgarian (that is, European) citizens with the remark that such a thing is morally intolerable 'after World War II.' Ms. Reding has disqualified herself with this comparison to the Nazi era."

"After a little reflection, it might have occurred to her that postwar Europe has not been free of ethnically motivated persecution. Yet no one with a minimum of understanding would compare the French effort with, say, the massacre of Srebrenica. Viviane Reding has exhausted her credibility. If she doesn't realize as much, and apologize, she needs to resign, before she does lasting damage to the relationship between the E.U. and France." A Facebook movement was also started asking Mrs. Reding to resign for her comments.

External links

• Official Media Gallery
• Official website
• Archived website as Commissioner for Culture and Education
• Interview with Viviane Reding