The government of Luxembourg has nominated Martine Reicherts, currently director-general of the EU publications office, to replace Viviane Reding as its member of the European Commission. Reding, the commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, will take up her seat as an MEP on 1 July after being elected on 25 May.

Reicherts, who has headed the publications office since 2007, will be a member of the Commission until its mandate ends, which is officially 31 October.

Reicherts has had a long career in the European Commission, which she joined in February 1984. She was spokesman for Jacques Santer (a former prime minister of Luxembourg) when he was president of the Commission, from March 1998 until September 1999 when the Santer-led team resigned. Before that, Reicherts was deputy head of Santer’s private office from the start of his term as Commission president in January 1995. She has also worked in the private offices of commissioners René Steichen (agriculture) and Jean Dondelinger (internal market and services).

If Jean Claude-Juncker, a former prime minister of Luxembourg who was nominated by the EU’s national leaders last week to be president of the European Commission, is elected by MEPs on 16 July, he will be Luxembourg’s member of the next Commission.