VIVIANE REDING, the European Commissioner for Information, Society and Media, is determined to leave her mark.

Only a few weeks ago she shook up the telecoms world with radical proposals to do away with the surcharges imposed on mobile phone calls made while abroad.

The proposals, aimed at ending “rip-off” charges for people phoning home while abroad, drew fierce reactions from mobile phone companies such as Vodafone, but naturally proved to be hugely popular with phone users and have been embraced by consumer groups.

Dr Reding’s work as Commissioner, overseeing the review of the telecoms framework in the European Union, will put her in the line of fire from phone companies, ministers and national regulators who are likely to have strong reactions to her proposals. Dr Reding, a Luxembourger, launched her political career in 1979 as a member of the Luxembourg parliament. She was elected to the European Parliament in 1989 and became a member of the European Commission in 1999. She took up her current role in 2004. Until 1999 she worked as a journalist at the Luxemburger Wort.

Dr Reding, who obtained a doctorate in human sciences at the Sorbonne, is married with three children.

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