Frédérique Ries (born 14 May 1959) is a Belgian politician and former

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

for the

French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (, , CFB) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (, , FWB), which is controversial because ...

with the MR/ MCC/ PRL, part of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

. She was a member of the delegation of 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 ...

for relations with Israel. She is vice-president of the Israel lobby group European Friends of Israel.

Early life and career

Ries graduated in Economics and mastered in Journalism 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 ...

in 1981. Ries worked as commercial director at Radio FM56 from 1981 to 1984. In 1984, she was hired at RTL (Radio Télévision Luxembourg) first in Luxembourg, as a producer and TV presenter from 1984 to 1987, then in Brussels where she edited and presented the news from 1987 to 1998.

Political career

In 1999, Ries joined the MR (PRL at the time) to become a candidate on the European elections list. Elected Member of the European Parliament since 1999, she has since been a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. In this capacity, she was the Parliament's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

on a proposal to restrict cultivation of

genetically modified organism A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...

s in 2014 and on the reduction of single-use plastics in 2018. Ries served on the Subcommittee on Human Rights from 2004 until 2009 and on the

Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality The Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) is a committee of the European Parliament. Membership Chair 9th Term Vice Chairs * Eugenia Rodríguez Palop * Sylwia Spurek * Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi * Radka Maxova 7th Term ...

from 2009 until 2012. In 2019, she joined the

Committee on Petitions The Committee on Petitions (PETI) is a permanent committee of the European Parliament to offer a petition process including a web portal to create and admit petitions. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Dolors Montserrat, member of the ...

. In addition to her committee assignments, Ries has been a member of the Parliament's delegation for relations with

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

since 1999. She is also a member of the

European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights The European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights is an intergroup of the European Parliament's legislators which focuses on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons both inside and outside the European Uni ...

, the European Parliament Intergroup on Seas, Rivers, Islands and Coastal Areas and the MEPs Against Cancer group. Re-elected in June 2009 with more than 116,000 votes, she is the 5th French-speaking political personality through all political parties in Belgium. In 2014, Ries supported

Françoise Grossetête Françoise Grossetête (born 17 May 1946) is a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament for the South-East of France from 1994 until 2019. She is a member of The Republicans; part of the European People's Party. Early l ...

's (unsuccessful) proposal to establish a European Parliament Intergroup on Health for Citizens, including stakeholders such as the European Cancer Patients Association and the Organisation for European Cancer Institutes. Since the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

, Ries served as one of eight vice chairs of the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

group, under the leadership of chairman

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian Agronomy, agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development (Romania), A ...

Overview

* 1981-1984: Commercial director, Radio FM56 * 1984-1987: Producer and presenter, RTL-TV Luxembourg * 1987-1998: Journalist, RTL-TVI (editing and presenting the news and other programmes on topical events) * 1999-2004:

* 2004: State Secretary for European Affairs and Foreign Affairs * 2004-2024:

Other activities

* Fondation EuroMedA, Member of the Board of DirectorsBoard of Directors
Fondation EuroMedA.

References

External links

* *
official personal website of Frédérique Ries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ries, Frederique 1959 births Living people People from Balen University of Liège alumni MEPs for Belgium 1999–2004 MEPs for Belgium 2004–2009 MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014 MEPs for Belgium 2014–2019 MEPs for Belgium 2019–2024 20th-century women MEPs for Belgium 21st-century women MEPs for Belgium