Renate Nikolay is Deputy Director-General in DG CNECT, where she oversees the enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), as well as digital connectivity, data, media and audiovisual policy, and international and institutional affairs.

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From 2014 to 2022, she served as Head of Cabinet to Věra Jourová during her tenure as Commissioner for Justice and Consumers and later Vice-President for Values and Transparency. In this role, she focused on justice, the rule of law, media freedom, and the fight against illegal hate speech and disinformation. She played a key role in the adoption of the EU data protection reform, negotiations on the EU–US data transfer arrangement, the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Code of Conduct with online platforms on illegal hate speech.

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Between 2011 and 2014, Renate led the Unit for Interinstitutional and International Relations in DG Justice, overseeing legislative files and international negotiations, including discussions with the United States on data protection in law enforcement.

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Prior to that, she served as an advisor in the Cabinet of the first High Representative/Vice-President, Cathy Ashton, where she led relations with the European Parliament during the establishment of the European External Action Service and managed relations with Asia, particularly China. From 2004 to 2009, she was a member of the Cabinets of Trade Commissioners Peter Mandelson and Baroness Cathy Ashton. During this period, she participated in the World Trade Organization's Doha Round negotiations and the negotiations for the EU–South Korea Free Trade Agreement, which was concluded in 2009.

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Renate began her career at the European Commission in 2003 within the Directorate-General for Trade, working on Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization and cooperation with Member States through the Trade Policy Committee. Before joining the Commission, she served as a diplomat at the German Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels and as Private Secretary to the German G7 Sherpa at the German Ministry of Economics.

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Renate Nikolay holds a law degree (Erstes and Zweites Staatsexamen) from the Free University of Berlin and earned a master's degree as a Fulbright Scholar in Washington, D.C. She also studied in Grenoble, France, as an Erasmus Scholar.