Didier Reynders (; born 6 August 1958) is a Belgian politician and a member of the

Mouvement Réformateur The Reformist Movement (, , MR) is a liberal French-speaking political party in Belgium, which includes social-liberal and conservative-liberal factions. Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest pa ...

(MR) that served as European Commissioner for Justice until 30 November 2024. He held various positions in public institutions before becoming a member of the House in 1992. Until resigning to become the Belgian European Commissioner Reynders had been a minister continuously from 1999 to 2019. He served as Federal Minister of Finance until December 2011 in six different governments, then became Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, later for Trade, Foreign Affairs, and European Affairs in two consecutive governments. Following the government crisis of December 2018, he was also appointed to the post of

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

which he held until November 2019.

Early life and education

Reynders was born in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

as the youngest in a family with three children. He studied law at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

Early career

Didier Reynders began his career as a lawyer in 1981 before serving as Chairman of the

National Railway Company of Belgium The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Ve ...

from 1986 to 1991.

Political career

Minister of Finance (1999–2011)

Reynders served as Minister of Finance from 1999 to 2011; in 2002, he chaired the G-10 which is the meeting of the main creditor states (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States). In 2004 Reynders became Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Prime Minister

Guy Verhofstadt Guy Maurice Marie Louise Verhofstadt (; ; born 11 April 1953) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Belgium from 2009 until 2024. He was a me ...

. He was the chairman of the

from 2004 to 2011. Didier Reynders led the MR to a victory in the 2007 general elections when the MR became the largest Francophone party of Belgium. The

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

appointed Reynders as informateur, i.e. to start off the informal coalition talks for a new federal government. Stalemate followed the 2010 general election. The King appointed a succession of people to negotiate a coalition from June 2010 onwards, but none succeeded in the task of forming a new government during the following seven months. Reynders was appointed informateur by the King on 2 February 2011. He reported on 16 February 2011, and his brief was extended through 1 March 2011.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2011–2019)

Following the appointment of Elio Di Rupo as new Belgian Prime Minister in December 2011, Reynders became Minister of Foreign Affairs. During his tenure, Belgium was elected as a non-permanent member of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

(2019–2020), as well as of the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

(2016–2018).

Minister of Defence (2018–2019)

After the ruling coalition collapsed in 2019, Reynders also held responsibility for the defense portfolio. Following an inconclusive

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

in May 2019,

Philippe asked Reynders and Johan Vande Lanotte to look into the conditions required for forming a coalition government. In 2019, Reynders announced his candidacy to succeed Thorbjørn Jagland as

Secretary General of the Council of Europe The Secretary General of the Council of Europe () is elected by the Parliamentary Assembly from a shortlist proposed by the Committee of Ministers for a term of five years. The secretary general is entrusted with the responsibility of meetin ...

; the position instead went to

Marija Pejčinović Burić Marija Pejčinović Burić (; born 9 April 1963) is a Croatian politician of the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union party who served as Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (Croatia), Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and First Depu ...

European Commissioner for Justice (2019–2024)

In the summer of 2019, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel put Reynders forward as the Belgian nominee for the incoming

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. President-elect

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...

nominated him for the Justice portfolio. Reynders' hearing at the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

was held in September 2019 and his nomination was approved by a large majority. He took office on 1 December 2019. In 2020, Reynders announced plans to develop a legislative proposal by 2021 requiring businesses to carry out

due diligence Due diligence is the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party or an act with a certain standard of care. Due diligence ...

in relation to the potential

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and

environmental impact Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans ( human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot reco ...

s of their operations and

supply chain A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distri ...

s. A 2022 report stated that Reynders was one of at least five senior EU officials targeted by Israeli

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is any malware that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user by violating their privacy, endangering their device's securit ...

in 2021. In September 2023, Reynders was temporarily assigned by von der Leyen the European Commission's competition portfolio following outgoing

European Commissioner for Competition The Commissioner for Competition is the member of the European Commission responsible for Competition (economics), competition. The current commissioner is Teresa Ribera (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Responsibilities The portfolio has r ...

Margrethe Vestager Margrethe Vestager (; born 13 April 1968) is a Denmark, Danish politician who formerly served as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age between December 2019 and November 2024 in the Von Der Leye ...

’s announcement that she was officially a candidate for the presidency of the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

. In January 2024, Reynders again became the Belgian government's candidate for the position as Secretary General of the Council of Europe, this time competing with

Alain Berset Alain Berset (; born 9 April 1972) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2012 to 2023. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), he headed the Federal Department of Home Affairs from when he too ...

and

Indrek Saar Indrek Saar (born February 20, 1973) is an Estonian actor and politician. He has been the leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2019 to 2022 and the Minister of Culture of Estonia from 2015 to 2019. Saar has been elected to the Estonian parl ...

. Berset won the vote by the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

on 25 June 2024 with 114 votes to 46 votes for Reynders and 85 for Saar. In September 2024, the

Belgian Government The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the polit ...

appointed Hadja Lahbib to succeed Reynders as the Belgian Commissioner in the European Commission, formally ending Reynders's tenure in the Von der Leyen's Commission.

Other activities

International organisations

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

(AfDB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (1999–2011) *

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

(ADB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (1999–2011) *

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...

(EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (1999–2011)

Non-profit organisations

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

(ECFR), Member

Controversies

Political activities

In 2015, Reynders drew criticism for having his face painted black during a traditional festival in Brussels. In April 2017, Belgium voted in favour of the entry of Saudi Arabia, yet considered one of the most retrograde countries on the issue of women's rights, in the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the principal organs of the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gen ...

. This decision raised controversy and questions about the role of Reynders.

Criminal investigation

In September 2019, Belgian police investigated allegations of corruption and money-laundering against Reynders, relating to the construction of the Belgian embassy building in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

, the lease of a federal police HQ and other matters. The investigation was dropped soon after. In December 2024, another investigation was opened into "possible

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

practices" related to the .

Honours

National honours

* 2014: Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold

Foreign honours

* 2013: Commander in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

* 2014: Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

* 2016: Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

* 2016: Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

Notes

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynders, Didier 1958 births Belgian European commissioners Deputy prime ministers of Belgium European commissioners (2019–2024) Ministers of finance of Belgium Foreign ministers of Belgium Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Living people Members of the 48th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 49th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 50th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 51st Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 52nd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 53rd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 54th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Ministers of defence of Belgium Reformist Movement politicians Politicians from Liège University of Liège alumni