Viviane Reding
Encyclopedia
Viviane Reding is a Luxembourgian politician
, currently serving as European Commission
er 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 27 November 2009, she was upgraded in the "Barroso II Commission" to Vice-President responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. She is affiliated with the European People's Party
(EPP).
She is divorced and has three children.
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-Chair 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 and 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 she became Commissioner for Information Society and Media. In that position she regulated the prices of roaming within the EU.
She has earned the following prizes and distinctions:
under President Barroso
, Viviane 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". 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 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
).
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 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 EU. Among the many amendments to the proposal, amendment 138 was voted in favor with 574 votes for, and 73 against. This particular amendment requires 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. This prompted some observers to point out that she wanted to overrule the democratic process of the 647 cast votes, and this reinforced negative perceptions of her attitude towards the internet and democracy which had earned her the 2007 Internet Villain Award from the UK Internet Service Providers Association
.
On 9 February 2010, Reding was confirmed in her third term as European Commissioner as Vice-President and Commissioner responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.
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 occasion, she was assaulted by a man with mental health problems in front of the Palace of Europe.
On 11 July 2011, Reding expressed criticism of the power exercised by the three major US credit rating agencies stating that breaking up the big three was an option being considered.
For a while, the French government's claim that it was expulsing people on legal rather than ethnic grounds was claimed to be "openly contradicted by an administrative circular issue by the same government" mentioning the illegal Romani camps specifically ("en priorité ceux des Roms"). This mention could be explained by the fact that Roma 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 stated that his government had been unaware of the directive in question signed by Mr Michel Bart, the Chief of Staff of the French Minister of the Interior, and that the directive had been canceled as soon as the government became aware of it through press reports. He stated that France continues to welcome refugees and that "we refuse the creation of slums... that are unworthy of French Republic or European ideals." President Sarkozy also stated that 80% of people removed from the camps during August 2010 were of French "gens du voyage", i.e. most of the campers thus removed where not foreign citizens or Roma; 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 further stated that Reding had made an "unseemly blunder" and defended France as "the mother of human rights." Mr. Sarkozy denounced Mrs. Reding's comments as "scandalous" and stated that "if Luxembourg wants to take in Roma, that is no problem" as far as France is concerned. This statement was based on Luxembourg's own rejection of migrants, yet Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean Asselborn, deemed it "malevolent". President Sarkozy pointed out that Mrs Reding had been silent during larger-scale expulsions by other countries in earlier years, including by Italy specifically of its Roma during 2009 and when police reject Romani 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".
While some media coverage and opinion leaders supported her actions, others called for her immediate resignation.
Following her initial statement, and intense discussions in the European Council and in the European Parliament, Mrs Reding announced that the European Commission intended to sue France at the European Court of Justice within two weeks. At the instigation of Mrs Reding, the European Commission later set up a Roma task force to analyse to what extent measures were being effectively taken to help the social and economic integration of Roma in Europe. Mrs Reding subsequently privately recanted the historical comparison in her initial statement. Her office apologized for the analogy. The European Commission subsequently declined to follow up on the earlier threat to sue France at the European Court of Justice, or to take other legal action on the Roma matter against France.
Subsequently, the EU said it would seek to compel European Union countries to amend their national rules to the requirements of the European Union's free movement laws, but in so doing did not deny the lawfulness of the French actions.
Zoni Weisz
, a Roma activist and Holocaust deportation escapee who addressed the German Bundestag
's Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony on 27 January 2011, praised Mrs Reding's 'clear words' in denouncing Roma expulsions. Hungarian MEP
Lívia Járóka
, the sole European Parliament member to have partly Roma heritage, described the root problem as "the failure of Roma integration in most member states in the last 20 years". Journalist and author Eric Zemmour
commented that in this matter, "it is the European Union that is disarmed in the face of migration movements in general... European police are like Gullivers hindered in dealing with [potential criminal] migration".
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Politics of Luxembourg
Politics of Luxembourg takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Luxembourg is the head of government, and of a multi-party system...
, currently serving as European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
er for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Before starting a professional career as a journalist for the leading newspaper in Luxembourg, the Luxemburger Wort
Luxemburger Wort
Luxemburger Wort für Wahrheit und Recht is a Luxembourgian daily newspaper, published by Saint-Paul Luxembourg since 23 March 1848. From 17 March 2005 until 22 March 2008, it was renamed as d'Wort, although its full title remained d'Wort - Luxemburger Wort für Wahrheit und Recht...
, she obtained a doctorate in human sciences at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
. From 1986 to 1998, she was President of the Luxembourg Union of Journalists. On 27 November 2009, she was upgraded in the "Barroso II Commission" to Vice-President responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. She is affiliated with the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
(EPP).
She is divorced 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 ParliamentBenelux ParliamentThe Benelux Parliament, formally the Benelux Interparliamentary Consultative Council, is one of the institutions of the Benelux Economic Union, more commonly referred to as the "Benelux"...
- Member of the North Atlantic Assembly (leader of Christian Democrat/Conservative group)
She then became leader of Luxembourg’s EPP
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
delegation in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
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-Chair 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
Esch
Esch may refer to:Places* Esch-sur-Alzette, the second largest city in Luxembourg* Esch-sur-Sûre, a village in Luxembourg* Esch, Bernkastel-Wittlich, a municipality in the district Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, 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
Christian Social People's Party
The Christian Social People's Party , abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party follows a Christian Democratic and conservative ideology and, like most parties in Luxembourg, it is strongly pro-European...
.
From 1999 to 2004, she was appointed Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth, Media and Sport and in
2004 she became Commissioner for Information Society and Media. In that position she regulated the 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 GenoaUniversity of GenoaThe University of Genoa is one of the largest universities in Italy.Located in Liguria on the Italian Riviera, the university was founded in 1471. It currently has about 40,000 students, 1,800 teaching and research staff and about 1,580 administrative staff.- Campus :The University of Genoa is...
- 2004 Robert SchumanRobert SchumanRobert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
Medal - 2004 Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of TurinUniversity of TurinThe University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
- 2005 Gloria Artis Medal of Honour from Poland
- 2005 Officer of the National Order French Legion of Honour
- 2007 Internet villain award at the UK Internet Service Providers AssociationInternet Service Providers AssociationThe Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
Awards - 2007 Deutscher Mittelstandspreis
- 2009 Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Sacred Heart University, Luxembourg
- 2010 BeNeLux Europa award
Commissioner
While serving in the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
under President Barroso
Barroso Commission
The Barroso Commission is the European Commission that has been in office since 22 November 2004 and is due to serve until 2014. Its president is José Manuel Barroso, who presides over 26 other commissioners...
, Viviane Reding found a relatively popular policy in lowering roaming
Roaming
In wireless telecommunications, roaming is a general term referring to the extension of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location where the service was registered. Roaming ensures that the wireless device is kept connected to the network, without losing the...
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". Her legislation to cap roaming charges was approved by the Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
in April 2007.
On 7 April 2006 the Commission launched the new ".eu
.eu
.eu is the country code top-level domain for the European Union . Launched 7 December 2005, the domain is available for organisations in and residents of EU member states. The TLD is administered by EURid, a consortium consisting of the national ccTLD registry operators of Belgium, Sweden, Italy...
" TLD
Top-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
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
.de
.de is the country code top-level domain for the Federal Republic of Germany. DENIC does not require specific second-level domains, as it is the case with the .uk domain range which require .co.uk domain for example.The name is based on the first two letters of the German name for Germany...
and .uk
.uk
.uk is the Internet country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. , it is the fourth most popular top-level domain worldwide , with over 9.5 million registrations....
).
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
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
and Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
, 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
Telecoms Package
The Telecoms Reform Package is a law of the European Union, aimed at updating the EU Telecoms Rules of 2002 and unifying Europe's tele-communications market for all 27 EU member states...
" 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 EU. Among the many amendments to the proposal, amendment 138 was voted in favor with 574 votes for, and 73 against. This particular amendment requires 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. This prompted some observers to point out that she wanted to overrule the democratic process of the 647 cast votes, and this reinforced negative perceptions of her attitude towards the internet and democracy which had earned her the 2007 Internet Villain Award from the UK Internet Service Providers Association
Internet Service Providers Association
The Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
.
On 9 February 2010, Reding was confirmed in her third term as European Commissioner as Vice-President and Commissioner responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.
On 7 July 2010, Reding had an official meeting with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, Thorbjørn Jagland
Thorbjørn Jagland
is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe...
, in order to launch joint talks on the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
. On that occasion, she was assaulted by a man with mental health problems in front of the Palace of Europe.
On 11 July 2011, Reding expressed criticism of the power exercised by the three major US credit rating agencies stating that breaking up the big three was an option being considered.
Controversy over Roma
After the leak of an French Interior Ministry circular of 5 August 2010, Reding made a public statement that was interpreted as likening 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".For a while, the French government's claim that it was expulsing people on legal rather than ethnic grounds was claimed to be "openly contradicted by an administrative circular issue by the same government" mentioning the illegal Romani camps specifically ("en priorité ceux des Roms"). This mention could be explained by the fact that Roma 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 stated that his government had been unaware of the directive in question signed by Mr Michel Bart, the Chief of Staff of the French Minister of the Interior, and that the directive had been canceled as soon as the government became aware of it through press reports. He stated that France continues to welcome refugees and that "we refuse the creation of slums... that are unworthy of French Republic or European ideals." President Sarkozy also stated that 80% of people removed from the camps during August 2010 were of French "gens du voyage", i.e. most of the campers thus removed where not foreign citizens or Roma; 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 further stated that Reding had made an "unseemly blunder" and defended France as "the mother of human rights." Mr. Sarkozy denounced Mrs. Reding's comments as "scandalous" and stated that "if Luxembourg wants to take in Roma, that is no problem" as far as France is concerned. This statement was based on Luxembourg's own rejection of migrants, yet Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean Asselborn, deemed it "malevolent". President Sarkozy pointed out that Mrs Reding had been silent during larger-scale expulsions by other countries in earlier years, including by Italy specifically of its Roma during 2009 and when police reject Romani travelers trying to enter Luxembourg. French Immigration Minister Eric Besson
Éric Besson
Éric Besson is a French politician and Minister of Industry, Energy and the Digital economy under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, Christine Lagarde...
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".
While some media coverage and opinion leaders supported her actions, others called for her immediate resignation.
Following her initial statement, and intense discussions in the European Council and in the European Parliament, Mrs Reding announced that the European Commission intended to sue France at the European Court of Justice within two weeks. At the instigation of Mrs Reding, the European Commission later set up a Roma task force to analyse to what extent measures were being effectively taken to help the social and economic integration of Roma in Europe. Mrs Reding subsequently privately recanted the historical comparison in her initial statement. Her office apologized for the analogy. The European Commission subsequently declined to follow up on the earlier threat to sue France at the European Court of Justice, or to take other legal action on the Roma matter against France.
Subsequently, the EU said it would seek to compel European Union countries to amend their national rules to the requirements of the European Union's free movement laws, but in so doing did not deny the lawfulness of the French actions.
Zoni Weisz
Zoni Weisz
Zoni Weisz is a Sinto Holocaust survivor from the Netherlands working in the Dutch floral industry.Weisz was the oldest of four children of Jacoba and John Weisz from Zutphen, Netherlands. In May 1944, the family was ordered by the Nazis to be deported to the Westerbork concentration camp with...
, a Roma activist and Holocaust deportation escapee who addressed the German Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
's Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony on 27 January 2011, praised Mrs Reding's 'clear words' in denouncing Roma expulsions. Hungarian MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
Lívia Járóka
Lívia Járóka
Lívia Járóka is a Hungarian politician of Romani ethnicity. She is a Member of the European Parliament, elected as part of the Fidesz list in 2004...
, the sole European Parliament member to have partly Roma heritage, described the root problem as "the failure of Roma integration in most member states in the last 20 years". Journalist and author Eric Zemmour
Éric Zemmour
Éric Zemmour is a French conservative political journalist and writer. He has been a columnist for the daily newsparer Le Figaro and a panelist on France 2 talk-show On n'est pas couché and on I-Télé current affairs show Ça se dispute...
commented that in this matter, "it is the European Union that is disarmed in the face of migration movements in general... European police are like Gullivers hindered in dealing with [potential criminal] migration".
External links
- Official Media Gallery
- Official website
- Archived website as Commissioner for Culture and Education
- Interview with Viviane Reding
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