EC WILL HAVE FEMALE INFORMATION SOCIETY, COMPETITION CHIEFS
European Commission (EC) Pres.-designate Jose Barroso Thurs. unveiled his roster of new commissioners, calling them a “high quality and political team.” The new EC will take office Nov. 1 assuming the European Parliament (EP) approves his choices. It will have the highest proportion of women -- including the commissioners responsible for Internet, telecom and competition matters -- ever in the EC, ex-Portuguese Prime Minister Barroso said.
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Viviane Reding -- currently comr. for education, culture, youth, media & sport -- would head the Information Society & Media Directorate-Gen. (now Information Society & Enterprise). If confirmed, Reding will be responsible for Information Society (including telecom) issues, audiovisual (media) policy and coordination of media affairs. She will also oversee the new European Network & Information Security Agency. Reding, 53, is from Luxembourg. She has a doctorate in human sciences from the Sorbonne in Paris and was a journalist before entering politics.
Neelie Kroes-Smit, 63, of the Netherlands, would head the Competition Directorate-Gen. She has a masters of science in economics, and recently was pres. of Hijenrode U., a Dutch private school.
Barroso, whose appointment as EC pres. was approved by the EP last month, said a key aim for the new commissioners is “communicating Europe,” particularly given the voter apathy shown during the recent EP elections. Barroso is also targeting the Lisbon strategy -- intended to make Europe the most competitive economy in the world by 2010 -- which he said is “suffering from implementation deficit.”
With much of Europe on vacation, reaction by the telecom and Internet sectors to the appointments was sparse Thurs. However, one European industry source pointed to Reding’s background in media affairs, saying, “we hope that in her new role she will see the electronic communications industry in a wider context and appreciate the tremendous value that telecommunications adds to the productivity of the European Union and the need to give priority to issues of economic regulation and access, in particular, rather than simply focus on matters of content and issues of public service broadcasting that she is already familiar with.” Of Kroes- Smit, the source said: “It’s welcome that a woman has attained such a vital economic portfolio.”
The EC announcement notes the list of departmental duties “may be subject to adjustments.” During the 5-year term of the incoming EC, 2 or 3 new countries may join the European Union, and the European constitution may be ratified, an EC spokesman said. If either or both happen, he said, departments may have to be reshuffled. Barroso is scheduled to meet with his team for an informal session Aug. 20. Individual hearings before parliamentary committees begin in mid-Sept.