Gerrit Braks

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Gerrit Braks (1984)

Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (born May 23, 1933 in Odiliapeel , Province of Noord-Brabant ; † July 12, 2017 in 's-Hertogenbosch , Province of Noord-Brabant) was a Dutch politician of the Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP) and then the Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA), who was among other things a member of the Second Chamber of the States General and between 1980 and 1981 Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the Van Agt I cabinet and during this time dealt with issues such as the manure problem, the income situation of farmers, the Animal welfare and the so-called "fish fraud" had to deal with. In the Lubbers I and Lubbers II Cabinets he was again Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries between 1982 and 1989 and also Minister for Education and Science between September and November 1989 after the resignation of Wim Deetman . In November 1989 he took over the office of Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries in the Lubbers III cabinet , but resigned from this office in September 1990 due to differences with the then coalition partner Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA). He was then chairman of the public broadcasting company Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO) and a member of the First Chamber of the States General , chairman of the CDA parliamentary group and, most recently, president of this chamber of the States General . Most recently he was acting mayor of Eindhoven between 2007 and 2008 .

Life

Member of the Second Chamber and Minister

Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks, the third of ten children of a Catholic smallholder from the province of Noord-Brabant, completed an evening course of study at the Agricultural University after completing the extended primary education MULO (Meer uitgebreid lager onderwijs) and the higher citizen school HBS ( Hogereburgerschool ) Wageningen (Landbouw Hogeschool Wageningen) and worked as an employee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the General Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development of the EC Commission .

On June 8, 1977 he became a member of the Second Chamber of the States General (Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal) for the Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP ) , of which he was a member until March 6, 1980. On March 5, 1980 he was appointed Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries (Minister van Landbouw en Visserij) in the Van Agt I cabinet and held this ministerial office until September 11, 1981. During this time he had to deal with issues such as the manure problem, deal with the income situation of farmers, animal welfare and the so-called "fish fraud". After leaving the government, he was again a member of the Second Chamber of the States General between June 10 and September 9, 1981 and again from September 15, 1981 to November 4, 1982 for the Christian Democratic Appèl (CDA) Also spokesman for the CDA group for agriculture and European affairs in the second chamber.

On November 4, 1982, Braks took over again the office of Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the Lubbers I cabinet and held this position between July 14, 1986 and November 7, 1989 in the subsequent Lubbers III cabinet . During this term of office, he campaigned in the European Community (EC) in 1984 for the introduction of the milk quota , which, however, was criticized by the dairy farmers. In the meantime, after the parliamentary elections until the formation of the government from June 3 to July 14, 1986 and between September 14 and November 6, 1989 he was again a member of the Second Chamber of the States General. After the resignation of Wim Deetman , who had been elected President of the Second Chamber, he also served as Minister for Education and Science (Minister van Onderwijs en Wetenschappen) in the Lubbers II cabinet from September 15 to November 7, 1989 .

In the Lubbers III cabinet , Gerrit Braks was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Fisheries ( Minister van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij ) on November 7, 1989 . He resigned from this office on September 18, 1990 because of differences with the then coalition partner Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA), whereupon the Minister for Social Affairs and Labor, Bert de Vries took over this office temporarily before Piet Bukman on September 28 1990 became his successor.

Chairman of the KRO, member and president of the First Chamber

On March 11, 1991 Braks became chairman of the public broadcasting company Katholieke Radio Omroep (KRO) and held this office for five years until April 1, 1996. At the same time, on June 11, 1991, he was also the first for the Christian Democratic Appèl Chamber of States General (Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal) and was a member of this Chamber of States General for twelve years until June 10, 2003. During this time he was spokesman for the CDA parliamentary group on agriculture and foreign policy and initially also for education.

After Gerrit Braks was chairman of the CDA parliamentary group of the First Chamber between June 8, 1999 and October 2, 2001, he was appointed President of the First Chamber on October 2, 2001 as the successor to Frits Korthal's former President (Voorzitter Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal ) and held this office until June 10, 2003, after which Yvonne Timmerman-Buck succeeded him. In this function, he was from October 2, 2001 to June 10, 2003 in personal union both chairman of the council of elders (College van Seniors) and the budget committee (Huishoudelijke Commissie) of the First Chamber. Most recently he was provisional mayor of Eindhoven between September 1, 2007 and April 7, 2008 .

Braks has been honored several times for his long service and was among other things commander of the Order of the Dutch Lion . He also received the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dutch Lion and the Order of Orange-Nassau and in 1993 the honor thaler of the Agricultural University of Wageningen and he was appointed Commandeur des Ordre du Mérite agricole . He was also an honorary citizen of the province of Noord-Brabant.

Web links

Commons : Gerrit Braks  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Van Agt I cabinet
  2. ^ Cabinet Lubbers I
  3. ^ Cabinet Lubbers II
  4. ^ Cabinet Lubbers III
  5. ↑ Netherlands: States-General First Chamber Chairmen (rulers.org)
personal data
SURNAME Braks, Gerrit
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Braks, Gerardus Johannes Maria (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch politician (KVP, CDA), minister
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Odiliapeel , Province of North Brabant
DATE OF DEATH July 12, 2017
Place of death 's-Hertogenbosch , Province of Noord-Brabant