03/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - The appointment of Viviane Reding as the EU's new justice, fundamental rights and citizenship commissioner is excellent news, according to the president of the European Court of Human Rights, Jean-Paul Costa. He said on Tuesday 1 December that she would provide huge visibility to fundamental rights for the EU and for the whole of Europe. Asked whether the Czech, British and Polish opt-outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights would change anything, Costa replied that the opt-outs were political issues and would not change things in practice because all three countries have signed the European Convention of Human Rights that provides very similar guarantees to the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. (B.C./transl.fl)