A review of the past five years with Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media. Telecoms, Internet, TV, cinema, roaming - Mrs Reding's work has touched us all. Tipped to continue as Commissioner, Mrs Reding hopes the next Com

Interview: We need to balance the economic aspect with the citizen - Viviane Reding

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/15083418/N003-0015-EN.srt

Hello, and welcome to The Interview   on EuroparlTV.

The Lisbon Treaty should   come into force in December 2009,

so the way is open for the formation   of a new European Commission.

and to present the future plans   of the Brussels College.

With me to discuss that   is Viviane Reding,

who has been a member   of the Commission since 1999

and is already tipped for a third term   in the College of Commissioners.

Her work concerns us all.   Every time we switch on our TV sets

or go on the internet   or receive a telephone bill,

Viviane Reding has had   a certain influence on it.

Viviane Reding, hello   and welcome to the studio.

Today's topic is of course   the Lisbon Treaty.

The Czech President   has ratified the Treaty,

so the way is open   for a new Commission.

What was your feeling   when you heard the news?

It was a long wait. Do you now feel   that at last you'll be able to start work?

There was a sigh of relief   because it's gone on long enough.

In 27 Member States either the people   or the Parliaments said 'yes'

and everyone was waiting   for the signature of a single man

because of questions that didn't   have a lot to do with the new Treaty.

So now we can start to work,   as you said in your introduction.

On 1 December the new Treaty   will come into force.

that the European Parliament   will have a say in all issues,

which is important   for citizenship in Europe,

and decisions will be able   to be made more quickly

So Europe gains from this.   Let's start work.

You mentioned 1 December,   but the Treaty stipulates 30 days

between the last ratification   and implementation.

Doesn't that take us   a bit further into December?

People are saying clearly that   it's always the first day of the month

The last State has just signed so it should   be 1 December, but that's not important.

The important thing is that,   starting from now,

and the voice of the Parliament   will be more powerful.

I think that's the essential thing.   We're here, let's start work.

I suggest we move on   to our assessment section.

Mrs Reding, let's go back   to the last five years.

and also the Commission,   what would that assessment be?

is that the most important element   of the new Commission

has gone completely unnoticed   and that's a good sign.

We have enlarged Europe   by 12 new Members

because the institutions continued   as if nothing had happened.

The Commission was enlarged   by 12 Members,

are capable of coping with the change   and of integrating the newcomers.

I think that's the greatest success of   the European institutions in recent years.

That's the general assessment.   Now you.

Roaming, television without frontiers,   the telecoms package.

You've ended up with a particular role   that's very close to consumers.

Will we go further?   We'll talk about that later.

If you had to make an assessment -   roaming, the pressure you came under

when the telecom industry   wasn't very happy with that...

How do you work?   Can you explain that to us?

That means you have to know   where you want to go

and then decide on the route   you'll take to get there.

I have had the European Parliament   as my main ally.

Television without frontiers   is the baby of the Parliament.

All the Parliamentarians are   attached to their national television,

hence their interest   in opening up the continent

so that their television channels   can be seen everywhere in Europe.

We have made a lot of improvements,   also by protecting children,

by allowing the possibility of short clips

which has become a new style   in news broadcasting

So, a very large undertaking   which was done well

in the different Member States   at the end of this year

is the new directive,   which is no longer a television directive

So there's also video on demand,   which is developing brilliantly.

Also at the moment there's the internet.

But if we compare Europe to the US   in this whole media market,

do you now feel that you have   put in place a really competitive system?

We have always had one big advantage   which is quality.

makes high-quality programmes.   Public TV channels do so.

Independent TV channels are better   than their reputation.

As a whole, this duality between   public and independent television

is the privilege of Europe   and it is in a good state.

There are more and more   and they are better and better,

That has always been   very important to me.