Didier Reynders

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Didier Reynders (2014)

Didier Reynders (born August 6, 1958 in Liège ) is a Belgian politician of the Mouvement Réformateur party and was its party leader from 2004 to 2011. From June 1999 to December 2011 he was the Belgian Minister of Finance. On December 6, 2011, he moved to the office of Foreign Minister in the new Di Rupo government . He also held the post in the following three governments. He has been Commissioner for Justice and Rule of Law in the von der Leyen Commission since December 1, 2019 .

Life

Reynders was born in Liège, the youngest of three children. His father was a sales representative and his mother ran a small business in Saint-Nicolas . He attended the Sacré Cœur Institute in Saint-Nicolas and the Saint Jean Berchmans Institute in his hometown and then devoted himself to studying law at the University of Liège , which he graduated with a licentiate in 1981 .

Reynders then worked as a lawyer until 1985 . From 1986 to 1991 he was President of the Belgian State Railways , from 1991 to 1993 President of the Société Nationale des Voies aériennes and from 1992 to 1999 Chairman of the Board of Directors of SEFB Record Bank .

In 1985 Reynders took up his first political post as General Director of the Department for Municipal Authorities of the Minister of State for the Walloon Region. From 1987 to 1988 he was head of cabinet of the Belgian Minister of Justice Jean Gol and in 1988 he was elected to the Liège municipal parliament for the Parti Réformateur Libéral (PRL). In 1992 Reynders took over the chairmanship of the PRL and moved to the Belgian Chamber of Deputies as a member. In 1995 Reynders was appointed parliamentary group leader of his party in the Liège local parliament as well as in the Belgian Chamber of Deputies and took over the office of President of the PRL at both the level of the Fédération provinciale and the Liege district .

After the 1999 elections, the PRL was able to provide three ministers in the Verhofstadt I government and Reynders was sworn in on July 12, 1999 by King Albert II as Belgian finance minister. He also held this post in the Verhofstadt II government from 2003, although his portfolio was expanded in July 2004 to include responsibility for institutional reforms. When the then Foreign Minister Louis Michel resigned from the government in July 2004 and took over the post of Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid in the Barroso I Commission , the post of Vice Prime Minister fell to Reynders. He was one of the most important political figures in the country.

In October 2004 Reynders took over the party leadership of the Mouvement Réformateur, in which the PRL was absorbed. At the federal level, he also served in the Verhofstadt III government from December 21, 2007 to March 20, 2008 as Minister of Finance and Institutional Reforms. After the resignation of the government, he was entrusted by King Albert II with exploratory talks for a possible new government and also took over the post of Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Minister for the newly formed Leterme I government from March 20, 2008 to December 19, 2008 Institutional Reforms. Reynders initially retained these powers in the Van Rompuy government and from November 25, 2009 to December 6, 2011 in the Leterme II government . In the new Di Rupo government , in addition to his role as Deputy Prime Minister, he was Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs. After the departure of the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie from the Michel I government and the associated resignation of Defense Minister Sander Loones , Reynders also took over the office of Defense Minister.

Reynders has been treasurer of the Liberal International since 2005 . He is also a lecturer at the Hautes Ecoles commerciales de Liège and visiting professor at the Université catholique de Louvain .

On December 1, 2019, he took over the position of Commissioner for Justice and the Rule of Law in the von der Leyen Commission . His successor as Foreign and Defense Minister was Philippe Goffin .

medal

Overview of political offices

  • since 1988: Member of the Liège Municipal Council
  • 1991 - 1992: Member of the Provincial Council of the Province of Liège
  • 1992 - today : Member of the Chamber of Deputies (partially prevented)
  • 1995 - 1999: Chairman of the PRL-FDF parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies
  • 1999 - 2003: Minister for Finance in the Verhofstadt I and Verhofstadt II governments
  • 2004 - 2007: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance in the Verhofstadt II government (after changes in appointment)
  • 2007-2011: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Institutional Reform in the Verhofstadt III , Leterme I , Van Rompuy and Leterme II governments
  • 2011-2014: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs in the Di Rupo government
  • 2014 - 2019: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs entrusted with Beliris and the federal cultural institutions
  • since 2019: Commissioner for Justice and Rule of Law in the European Commission

Publications (selection)

  • Tax policy priorities under the Belgian Presidency of the European Union during the second half of 2001 . In: EC Tax Review . Vol. 10, No. 3, 2001, ISSN  0928-2750 , p. 145.
  • La présidence belge de l'Eurogroupe: vers un renforcement de la coordination économique . In: Reflets & perspectives de la vie économique . Vol. 40, 2001, ISSN  0034-2971 , p. 139.
  • Economic governance within a larger EMU . In: Studia diplomatica . Vol. 56, No. 4, 2003, ISSN  0770-2965 , p. 57.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Didier Reynders in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
  2. ↑ dpa: The new commissioners: From old hands and newcomers - the new EU Commission . In: The time . November 27, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed November 29, 2019]).

literature

  • André Gilain: Didier Reynders: la face cachée de l'iceberg . Groupe Luc Pire, Brussels 2007, ISBN 978-2-87415-744-8
  • D. Leonard: Didier Reynders - A rising star on the political scene, Belgium's finance minister has his eye on the euro . In: Europe . Part 408, 2001, ISSN  0191-4545 , p. 9.
  • T. Buerkle: Reynders's moment - Euro group president Didier Reynders has a golden opportunity to push the long-discussed goal of European economic government. But will his outspoken ways foil his own campaign? . In: The Institutional investor (International Edition). July 2001, ISSN  0192-5660 , p. 25.

Web links

Commons : Didier Reynders  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Reynders, Didier
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Liege