Joop Atsma

Joop Atsma

Johannes Jan "Joop" Atsma (born July 6, 1956 in Surhuisterveen , municipality of Achtkarspelen , province of Friesland ) is a Dutch politician , former sports official and since June 2015 a member of the First Chamber of the States General . He belongs to the Christian Democratic Appèl . Atsma lives in the place of his birth.

Life

Atsma was born in Surhuisterveen as the son of the dairy farmer Pieter Atsma and his wife Tjitske van der Meer. After attending grammar school ( Atheneum ), he began studying history at the University of Groningen , which he did not graduate. Atsma has been married to Tea van der Schaaf since December 16, 1982.

job

From 1978 to 1989 Atsma worked as a journalist . Among other things, he worked for the daily newspapers Nieuwsblad van het Noorden in Groningen (now part of Dagblad van het Noorden ) and Friesch Dagblad in Leeuwarden as well as for the press agency Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau . He also worked for the public television and radio broadcasters Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) and Omrop Fryslân .

From 1989 he worked full-time for the Dutch cycling association Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie (KNWU). At four Summer Olympics ( 1988 in Seoul , 1992 in Barcelona , 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney ) he held the role as Chèf d'Equipe in the cycling race. Since 2009 Atsma has been chairman of the path commission of the Union Cycliste Internationale , the international cycling association. Among other things, the commission is responsible for the adoption of rules, the calendar and the qualification criteria for World Championships and Olympic Games.

Political career

Atsma began his political career as a member of the Frisian provincial parliament. There he was chairman of the CDA parliamentary group. In 1998 he was elected to the Second Chamber of the States General for the first time . He took his parliamentary oath in Frisian . As a Member of Parliament, Atsma mainly dealt with issues relating to sport, agriculture, food quality, the media and mining, which in the Netherlands is primarily related to natural gas production. Subsequently, he was Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Food Quality and Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Health, Welfare and Sport. On October 14, 2010, Prime Minister Mark Rutte appointed him to his cabinet as State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment . Atsma put his paid sideline activities in cycling on hold for the time being. He was State Secretary until November 5, 2012. Since June 9, 2015, he has been a member of the First Chamber of the States General .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ This article is based on Atsma's résumé on www.parlement.com, available here , accessed on April 16, 2012.