1. Viviane Adelaide Reding was born on 27 April 1951 and is a Luxembourgish politician and a former Member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg.
32 Facts About Viviane Reding
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Viviane Reding is a member of the Christian Social People's Party, part of the European People's Party.
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Viviane Reding previously served as European Commissioner for Education and Culture from 1999 to 2004, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media from 2004 to 2010 and European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship from 2010 to 2014.
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Viviane Reding is an advisor for the transatlantic think-tank European Horizons.
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Viviane 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.
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From 1999 to 2004, Viviane Reding was appointed Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth, Media and Sport.
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In 2004 Viviane Reding became Commissioner for Information Society and Media.
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Viviane Reding proposed that major European telecom companies be forced to separate their network and service operations to promote competition in the market.
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Viviane Reding is known as an advocate for an open Internet, resisting attempts in 2010 by her colleague, Swedish EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, to block access to websites.
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Viviane Reding favoured that amendment leading to the defeat of three-strikes policies such as those promoted by France's Hadopi law.
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In June 2009, Viviane Reding was elected Member of the European Parliament, heading the list of the Christian Social People's Party.
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On 9 February 2010, Viviane Reding was confirmed in her third term as European Commissioner becoming vice-president and commissioner responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.
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Viviane Reding was given responsibility for the commission's Directorate-General for Communication.
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Viviane Reding has 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.
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Viviane Reding has put in practice a fundamental rights culture across the European institutions and their policies.
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Viviane Reding has put in motion a citizenship-centred agenda with the drafting of the first-ever EU Citizenship report in October 2010 proposing concrete measures to make European Union citizens' lives easier.
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Viviane Reding 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.
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On 11 July 2011, Viviane 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.
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Viviane Reding used the opportunity to invite UEFA "to take account of the dramatic situation of Yulia Tymoshenko" stressing that Europeans "cannot close their eyes on human rights even during a great sporting celebration".
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In December 2012, in an interview to the Daily Telegraph Viviane Reding dubbed as "crazy" the plans of United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron to opt out from EU co-operation mechanisms such as Europol, Eurojust and the European Arrest Warrant.
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In June 2013 at a citizens dialogue in Esch-sur-Alzette Viviane Reding commented on the revelations of mass-scale spying by the US National Security Agency on Europeans stating that "partners do not spy on each other", stressing that such behaviour by the US Administration risks undermining trade talks with the European Union.
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In July 2013 Viviane Reding sympathised with the protesters in Sofia, Bulgaria, who called in the streets for an oligarch-free government.
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Viviane Reding has called for political unity and consensus in Bulgaria.
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Also in July 2013 Viviane Reding called on the government of Croatia to change its law.
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Viviane Reding urged the Croatian government to change this, as the media dubbed the problematic law "Lex Perkovic", and Mrs Reding threatened with diplomatic sanctions against Croatia.
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In January 2014, Viviane Reding publicly announced that she has no plans to seek the nomination of the centre-right European People's Party for the presidency of the European Commission and that she supports the candidacy of fellow centre-right Luxembourger Jean-Claude Juncker.
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In February 2012 Viviane Reding challenged her fellow European leaders to start working towards designing the future of the united European continent.
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The Viviane Reding initiative led a group of foreign affairs ministers of the European Union to put together a reflection group animated by the German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle on the future of Europe.
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In May 2012 Viviane Reding delivered a speech on the Future of Europe in Tallinn, Estonia at the XXV Congress of the Federation Internationale du Droit Europeen.
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Viviane Reding subsequently failed in her bid to become the EPP's candidate to chair the Committee on Legal Affairs.
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Viviane Reding currently serves as a member of the Committee on International Trade.
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President Sarkozy pointed out that Mrs Viviane 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 travellers trying to enter Luxembourg.