Kris Peeters

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Kris Peeters

Kristiaan Peeters (born May 18, 1962 in Rumst ) is a Belgian politician of the Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V). He was Prime Minister of Flanders from 2007 to 2014, succeeding Yves Leterme . From 2014 to 2019 he was Vice Prime Minister and Federal Minister for Labor, Economy and Consumers as well as Foreign Trade Commissioner in the Michel I and Michel II governments .

Life

Kris Peeters grew up in a Christian-democratic home. His father was chairman of the Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP) in Ruisbroek for many years . Peeters studied law and philosophy at the Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen (UFSIA), a study institution that later became part of the University of Antwerp . He worked as a lawyer from 1986 to 1988 and then (1988–1991) as a consultant for the NCMV study service . Subsequently (1989–1991) he took up a teaching position at the Postuniversitair Centrum Limburg (LUC). In 1991 he returned to the NCMV study service and held the position of director there until 1994. In 1994 he rose to the position of general secretary at NCMV ( Nationaal Christelijk Middenstandsverbond ), a position he held until 1999. From 1999 he continued to head this organization as a delegated bestuurder and successfully converted it into the Flemish business association UNIZO ( Unie van Zelfstandige Ondernemers ).

After ten years at the helm, he left this organization in 2004 to become Minister for 'Openbare Works, Havens, Energy, Leefmilieu en Natuur' in the Flemish government , although he was not a member of the Flemish Parliament. When Yves Leterme became Prime Minister of Belgium in June 2007 , Peeters was the only backward CD&V politician in the Flemish coalition government and succeeded Leterme. He was sworn in on June 28, 2007 and moved into the official residence of the Flemish Prime Minister on Martelarenplein in Brussels. After the successful elections on June 7, 2009, Peeters formed his second cabinet, consisting of his own CD&V party and the coalition partners of sp.a and N-VA . In this second cabinet he also had ministerial responsibility for agriculture, marine fisheries, rural areas and foreign affairs.

After the May 2014 elections in Belgium, in which Bart De Wevers N-VA was able to gain both at the federal and Flemish levels, Peeters announced on May 26, 2014 that his Flemish government would resign. Peeters believed that, based on the election result, the initiative to form a government in Flanders rests with Bart de Wever. On the other hand, Kris Peeters was also under discussion as the future Belgian Prime Minister. On July 25, 2014, Peeters was replaced as Prime Minister by the previous Flemish Interior Minister, Geert Bourgeois .

Kris Peeters lives in Puurs in the province of Antwerp and has been a member of the local council there since 2007.

Peeters was one of the most popular Flemish politicians during his time as Flemish Prime Minister. In 2012 he even topped the list of the most popular politicians by a narrow margin over Bart De Wever.

Political positions

Kris Peeters at the agriflanders agricultural
fair
in Ghent in 2009

Kris Peeters sees Flanders' future within Belgium, in stark contrast to Bart De Wever's Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA). Politically, therefore, Peeters advocates the implementation of the Sixth State Reform . On the other hand, French-speaking politicians, such as the former Prime Minister of the Brussels region Picqué, claim that Peeters calls himself a "confederalist", a label that Bart De Wever, who openly supports the independence of Flanders, likes to use.

Web links

Commons : Kris Peeters  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

proof

  1. Kris Peeters' curriculum vitae: Kris Peeters - CV (Dutch)
  2. Swearing in of Kris Peeters at: nieuwsblad.be (Dutch)
  3. kris-peeters launches new government (July 14, 2009) flanderstoday.eu ( Memento of December 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  4. List of Flemish government coalitions: parties-and-elections.eu ( Memento of January 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  5. Flemish separatists are on the rise, NZZ from May 25, 2014
  6. Peeters: "Initiatief bij De Wever" ( Memento of August 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) in Het Laatste Nieuws of May 26, 2014
  7. Peeters: "Initiatief bij De Wever" in Knack from May 26, 2014
  8. Peeters volgt nog geen lessen Frans. In: De Morgen . June 13, 2014, archived from the original on June 15, 2014 (Dutch).;
  9. MP Peeters remains the most popular politician at vrtnieuws (September 15, 2012): deredactie.be (German)
  10. Millimeter sprint tussen Peeters en De Wever in De Standaard from 14 September 2012: standaard.be (Dutch)
  11. List of the 20 most popular politicians in Flanders, published on September 14, 2012: standaard.be
  12. Six state reforms in 41 years , a vrtnieuws article from July 19, 2012: deredactie.be  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.deredactie.be
  13. Plan B, in case Belgium does fall apart , a vrtnieuws article from 10 September 2012: deredactie.be
  14. De Wever: "2013, year of confederalism" , a vrtnieuws article from January 6, 2013: deredactie.be