European Commissioner Responsible for Information Society & Media



Viviane Reding was born in Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg). She speaks Luxemburgish, French, German, English and Italian. Doctor of human sciences (Sorbonne, Paris), she was a journalist with Luxembourg's main daily newspaper ΄Luxemburger Wort.΄ Viviane Reding entered politics early and has been a parliamentarian at national and European level as well as European Commissioner.

In 1999 she became European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport for which she was awarded the Gold Medal of European Merit (2001), the Robert Schuman Medal and the Prince of Asturias International Cooperation Prize (2004).

In her current role as Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding has become a high profile champion of the single European Market in the Digital Economy. She has modernised the rules on audiovisual content, regulated against excessive international roaming charges (just now entering a new round of political discussion) and has proposed far reaching reforms to streamline EU telecoms law to encourage competition, innovation and investment for the benefit of European citizens.

In January 2008, Commissioner Reding outlined a new policy framework to support the creative production of content online. Apart from taking an international lead on issues such as internet security, creating a trust framework for the adoption of RFID, combating film piracy and promoting eHealth, Viviane Reding has also been championing policy frameworks for using ICTs to promote Energy Efficiency and to develop safer, smarter and cleaner road transport through the Intelligent Car Initiative.