Chris van Veen

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Chris van Veen (1972)

Christiaan "Chris" van Veen (born December 19, 1922 in Barneveld , Province of Gelderland ; † November 9, 2009 in Wassenaar , Province of Zuid-Holland ) was a Dutch politician from the Christelijk-Historische Unie (CHU) and the Christen-Democratisch Appèl ( CDA), who, among other things, was State Secretary , briefly a member of the Second Chamber of States General and Minister. He achieved great fame as chairman of the employers' association Verbond van Nederlandse Ondernemingen (VNO), for which he negotiated the basic Wassenaar Agreement on November 6, 1982 with employees and trade unions on the establishment of industrial relations in the Netherlands.

Life

Studies and professional career

After attending the primary school in Oude Tonge , van Veen went to the public extended primary school ( MULO-School ) in Middelharnis between 1935 and 1939 and was then first an apprentice candidate in the secretariat of the municipality of Den Bommel, before he worked as an official in the municipal administration of Den from 1940 to 1944 Bommel was busy. He then worked for the military administration in Brussels and after the end of the Second World War in 1945 he became a civil servant in the Rijswijk municipality's secretariat .

In addition, he attended the Hogere Burgerschool between 1949 and 1952 and began studying law at the Free University of Amsterdam in 1953 , where he passed the candidate examination in June 1955. After completing his studies in 1958, he was first head of the department for general affairs of the Rijswijk municipality, then between April 1960 and October 1964 municipal secretary in Hoogeveen and then until May 1967 municipal secretary in Groningen .

State Secretary, Member of Parliament and Minister

Biesheuvel cabinet on July 6, 1971: Minister of Education van Veen (1st row, 2nd from left) with Queen Juliana as well as Prime Minister Barend Biesheuvel (5th from left) and the other ministers

On May 10, 1967, van Veen was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior in his cabinet by Prime Minister Piet de Jong . There he was responsible for agglomeration affairs, government personnel and government organization under Interior Minister Henk Beernink until the end of de Jong's term of office on July 6, 1971 .

In the parliamentary election in April 1971 he was elected a member of the Second Chamber of the States General and was formally a member from May 11 to July 6, 1971.

After the formation of the government of Prime Minister Barend Biesheuvel , he was appointed Minister of Education and Science on July 6, 1971 , and held this post until the end of Biesheuvel's term of office on May 11, 1973. After the resignation of the one responsible for science policy and higher education Minister without portfolio , Mauk de Brauw , on June 20, 1972, he also took on responsibility for these tasks. Due to his budget cuts in the education budget and the increase in tuition fees, there were massive protests and calls for resignation in public during this time (“ van Veen, heen! ”).

After leaving the government, van Veen was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau on June 8, 1973 for his political services .

President of the employers' association VNO and the Wassenaar Agreement

In September 1973 he was first deputy chairman and then between January 1974 and November 1984 chairman of Verbond van Nederlandse Ondernemingen (VNO), the largest employers' association in the Netherlands.

It was in his private home that the famous Wassenaar Agreement was signed on November 6, 1982 , which subsequently determined industrial relations in the Netherlands for more than a decade. The key points of this agreement between employers and employees were wage restraint and the reduction of working hours. His negotiating partner on the side of the unions was Wim Kok , then chairman of the construction union ( Bouwbond NVV ) and later prime minister.

Because of his services there he was appointed commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau on November 6, 1984 .

Finally, on February 1, 1985, by royal decision of Queen Juliana van Veen was appointed a member of the Council of State ( Raad van State ) for special tasks. He was a member of this constitutional body that advised the Dutch government until January 1, 1993.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Economic policy 1940 to 2006: VII. The Wassenaar Agreement (uni-muenster.de, page accessed on June 9, 2012)
  2. ↑ Working in the Netherlands: Model for labor market policy (eu-info.de, page accessed on June 9, 2012)
personal data
SURNAME Veen, Chris van
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Veen, Christiaan van (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch politician (CHU and CDA) and business manager
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Barneveld , Gelderland Province
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 2009
Place of death Wassenaar , Province of Zuid-Holland