Androulla Vassiliou

Androulla Vassiliou

Between March 2008 and February 2010, Androulla Vassiliou was the European Commissioner for Health and then, until November 2014, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth under the Second Barroso Commission. In Cyprus her political career dates back to 1996, when she was elected to the House of Representatives of Cyprus for the Movement of United Democrats, and re-elected in 2001 until 2006. During this time she served on the European Affairs Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committee of Cyprus and the EU. She was also an alternate representative of the Cyprus to the European Convention which drew up the European Constitution. Between 2001 and 2006 she was vice president of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, and the chairperson of the European Liberal Women's Network. Since 2002 she has been chairperson of the board of trustees of the Cyprus Oncology Centre and she has also been president of the Cyprus Federation of Business and Professional Women since 1996. She was involved in the United Nations Association of Cyprus, being elected as president of it for four consecutive terms. In 1991 she was elected president of the World Federation of United Nations Associations and re-elected for two terms before being made an honourary president.

Androulla Vassiliou on defining a common European culture, and why the European Union needs to communicate to survive.

In a Europe confronted with populism, nationalism and Euroscepticism, what role does culture and communications play?

In this interview, taken by Stavros Papagianneas as part of a series of interviews with key stakeholders in European...