Věra Jourová is a Czech lawyer and politician who spent a decade at the heart of the European Union's executive, becoming one of its most recognisable defenders of democratic values, the rule of law and citizens' rights. Born in Třebíč in 1964, she rose from regional administration in the Czech Republic to two successive terms in the European Commission, and from May 2026 serves as a member of the Ethics Committee of the European Central Bank.

Ms Jourová began her career in Czech public administration, working in the Třebíč municipal office and the Vysočina regional authority before joining the Ministry for Regional Development, where she led the European integration agenda and served as Deputy Minister from 2003 to 2006. After several years as an independent consultant on European funding, she entered national politics with the ANO movement, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, and in 2014 was appointed Minister for Regional Development in the government of Bohuslav Sobotka.

Later that year she moved to Brussels as European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality in the Juncker Commission, a portfolio she held from 2014 to 2019 and during which she oversaw the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation and reforms to consumer and privacy law. In 2019 she was elevated to Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency under Ursula von der Leyen, leading the organisation's work on the rule of law, media freedom, transparency and the fight against disinformation until the end of the mandate in 2024.

A graduate of Charles University in Prague, where she earned degrees in the theory of culture and in law, Ms Jourová was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in 2019. Since leaving the Commission she has advised Czech President Petr Pavel on European and international affairs and served as Vice-Rector for the Development of Human Resources and New Technologies at Charles University from 2025 to 2026. In March 2026 the Governing Council of the European Central Bank appointed her to its Ethics Committee for an initial three-year term beginning on 1 May 2026.