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Does your resignation mean your retirement?
. – No, you can't imagine me doing nothing [laughs]. There are two areas in which I have expertise: geopolitics and its influence on society, and companies working internationally. In particular, I advise international companies on how politics is likely to develop.
How do you do this?
I have my own consultancy company called VivRe Consult. I am very interested in companies that work internationally, and with my political experience, they trust me. I am also present on the advisory boards of several companies, also international, but I prefer not to mention names. My role in the advisory boards uses my experience of the development of politics, of the international economy, of all the things that you can't read in the press, because I'm not someone who can advise on figures. What interests me is really helping companies to develop, so I will choose the company based on what it does. If I find it interesting or useful and if it contributes to the development of the company, I really commit myself. I make it possible to remove the blinkers for the companies.
Are you also interested in specific subjects?
Yes, when I was a member of the European Commission [Reding was a member from 1999 to 2014, successively for education, culture, youth, media and sport, then for information society, technological research and media, and justice, fundamental rights and citizenship], I was forced to think about issues I didn't know anything about. So every three years I choose a subject I don't know, and then I go for it. At the moment, I'm studying quantum computing, and I'm also on European advisory boards to develop it.
I do consulting (...) and I see these managers who are strong personalities, and who know where to develop their company. I am very interested in helping them to make their project a success.
This was also your method when you were European Commissioner?
Yes, I was in charge of technological research but I knew nothing about it. So I had to understand how nanotechnology works, and I discovered... how badly organised it was. I didn't become a nanotechnology researcher, but I understood how it worked, I reshaped it and made it a winning field. And so on. I'm now doing the same with quantum computing. Engineers need an outside eye, someone who understands the technology, but also the politics and how it can evolve. What are the benefits, what needs to be developed and protected to make it work, and what is very dangerous. You have to be careful from the start not to make mistakes.
Do you also work with Luxembourg companies?
No, but if a Luxembourg company working abroad asks me to give them a hand, I will gladly do so.
Would you have liked to be a company director?
Oh yes, I would have liked to be a company director.
And why didn't you take the plunge?
Because I was too successful in politics [laughs]. But if I was a bit younger I would definitely go for it. But now I do consulting, so it's not bad either. Especially because I see these leaders who are strong personalities, and who know where to develop their business. I'm very interested in helping them to make their project a success.
You are also vice-president of the World Law Foundation, even though you are not trained as a lawyer?
I was a justice commissioner and I was very interested in the rule of law. At the time, I called on the associations of judges, lawyers and jurists to help me get feedback from the field, as I was not a specialist. They have always helped me and I think this is the right strategy to adopt. All the lawyers' associations knew me.
There are a lot of things that have succeeded magnificently, that have changed the course of citizens' lives.
What are your best memories as a European Commissioner?
There are many but let me share the ones that stand out. For example, changing the Erasmus system into Erasmus Mundus. Do you know who were the first to want to negotiate? The Chinese, who understood that they needed young people who were very well trained, beyond China. The creation of national film funds is also a strong memory. The Film Fund Luxembourg that we have today is a result of that. I always use the same method: I start with a problem, and I see what I can use to solve it.
In terms of technological research, I found an incredible magma. With my very organised mind, I said to myself that we had the best researchers in the world, but in this magma they were lost. So to put things in order, I created technology platforms, in which large companies, SMEs, start-ups and universities collaborate until they reach pre-commercial research.
Many people also remember the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) that you initiated.
Of course, the GDPR was a fight against the Americans, against Gafa [Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon]. They tried to lobby the commissioners, in fact they sent 80 lobbyist engineers. It was interesting, but we won. But it was a very long and complicated story, I always worked with the European Parliament, which was my best ally, and which I knew. Because most of the decision-makers in the Commission don't know the Parliament and don't know the manoeuvring power it can have if you know how to use it.
There are many things that have succeeded magnificently, and that have changed the course of citizens' lives. I'm really proud of the cinema, but it's not the best known. The number 112 (the single European emergency number) is also me. I'm not someone who does theory, I look at what's wrong in practice, on the ground, in people's lives. The end of roaming also amused me a lot because it was really David against Goliath, and the big European telecom groups, a world of men, would never have thought that someone could do it.
The fact that I'm a woman and that I'm from Luxembourg has always served me well as they didn't see me coming.
They didn't take you seriously?
No, at the beginning they didn't take me seriously, which was very good, because it allowed me to get very far before they woke up. The fact that I am a woman and that I am from Luxembourg has always served me well as they didn't see me coming.
We also read on the internet that you are a member of several company boards.
I have left all the boards of directors but on social networks and the internet, you can find anything. Agfa-Gevaert [specialised in the manufacture of film, it reconverted into the imaging industry] I am no longer there. Nyrstar [a mining company] I was never there. But journalists wrote about it once and it stayed. But I don't go on boards anymore because the laws have changed and there is now this individual financial responsibility of board members, and I don't control a firm enough to be sure. That's why I prefer to be on advisory boards. Bertelsmann is also often mentioned, but I am active in their Foundation, not in the firm. It is a think tank where we do education, geopolitics, analysis of economic situations, etc. I am still there.
My cabinet at the European Commission was known as the Reding Brigade.
Do you feel you were a pioneer?
Yes, I think I was a pioneer in many things, but that's what interested me. I never liked to chase after others. My idea was always: 'What's the problem? Doesn't anyone want to deal with it? I'll take it on myself, there's no competition, that's fine, and we'll go. And I always took the best people to surround me and help me solve the problem. My cabinet at the European Commission was known as the Reding Brigade. It was a real family, and if we had something in mind, we implemented it. When I arrived at the Justice Commissioner's Office, I had no administration. I launched a European call stating what I wanted to do, and that the best people can come and help me. We had an avalanche of CVs, and in three months we built an administration from scratch, but with the best.
Which man or woman has made the biggest impression on you?
Pierre Werner [former Luxembourg CSV prime minister]. For me, he is the greatest man Luxembourg has ever had, in all fields. I met so many people when I was abroad. I have always been a life-long learner, and have always been inspired by people who know more than me. So I have really been lucky to meet so many extraordinary people.
Originally published in French by and translated for Delano.