Laurens Brinkhorst

Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (1981)

Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (born March 18, 1937 in Zwolle , Overijssel province ) is a Dutch politician of the 66 Democrats , who was among other things from 1977 and 1982 a member of the Second Chamber of the States General , State Secretary and several times Minister. He was also a civil servant at the European Commission and a member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999 .

Life

State Secretary, Member of the Second Chamber and the European Parliament

State Secretary Brinkhorst in conversation during the formation of the cabinet in 1977.

After attending the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst began studying law at the State University of Leiden , which he finished in 1959. He then completed a degree in public law and administration at Columbia University in 1961 with a master's degree (MA Public Law and Government). After working as a lawyer at the law firm Shearman & Sterling in New York City , he was after his return in 1965 lecturer for Law of International Organizations at the University of Groningen and director of the European Institute before it from 1967 to 1973 as a professor of European law at the State University Groningen taught. During this time he was also a member of the parliament ( Provinciale Staten ) of the province of Groningen between 1970 and 1971 .

Brinkhorst, who became a member of Democrats 66 (D'66) on October 24, 1966 , served between May 11, 1973 and September 8, 1977 in the Den Uyl cabinet as State Secretary for European Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Staatssecretaris van Buitenlandse Zaken rounded Europese samenwerking) . On June 8, 1977 he was elected to the D'66 as a member of the Second Chamber of the States General and was a member of this until November 11, 1982. In 1978 he became a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion for his services . During his parliamentary membership, he was the successor of Jan Terlouw between 11 September 1981, his replacement by Maarten Engwirda on 11 November 1982 as Chairman of the Group of Democrats 66 in the Second Chamber and political leader of the D'66th After the defeat of his party in the election on September 8, 1982 , in which the D'66 received only 4.3 percent and compared to the election of May 26, 1981 lost eleven of its 17 seats so far, he withdrew from politics .

Laurens Jan Brinkhorst then acted as head of the delegation of the European Commission in Japan between 1982 and his replacement by Dries van Agt in 1987 . After his return, he moved to the European Commission's Directorate General in 1987 , where he was first Director General for Environment, Consumer Interests and Nuclear Safety and then from 1989 to 1994 Director General for Environment and Nuclear Safety. In the European elections in 1994 he finally became a member of the European Parliament for the D'66 and belonged to it in the fourth legislative period between July 19, 1994 and June 8, 1999.

Minister and Vice Prime Minister

On June 8, 1999, Brinkhorst was surprisingly appointed Minister for Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Fisheries ( Minister van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij ) in the Kok II cabinet and held this ministerial office until July 22, 2002. As such, he reorganized pig fattening through which, in particular , should lead to a vigorous fight against foot-and-mouth disease . Against the background of vertical farming , the Delta Park Rotterdam should enable an energy-efficient and resource-saving production of vegetables , fruit , meat and fish in an " agricultural factory " close to the city . Meat, fish, eggs (250,000 laying hens, 1,000,000 chicks), vegetables (lightless rooms for chicory and mushrooms ) and fruit should be produced continuously, semi-automatically and regardless of the season .

After teaching part-time as professor for international and European government policy at the University of Tilburg between December 2002 and May 2003 , he became Minister of Economics (Minister van Economische Zaken) in the Balkenende II cabinet on May 27, 2003 and held this ministerial office until July 3 2006 from. As Minister of Economics, he strongly advocated socio-economic reforms. At the same time he was between March 31, 2005 and July 3, 2006 also Second Vice Prime Minister (Tweede Viceminister-President) . During this time, on November 25, 2004, he was head of the first meeting of the European Space Council, alongside Federal Research Minister Edelgard Bulmahn .

After leaving the government, from November 1, 2006 to November 1, 2011, he was Professor of International and European Law and Governance at the Grotius Instituut of the University of Leiden. He is also the owner and advisor to LJB Europe Consult, based in The Hague . Between 2014 and his replacement by Iveta Radičová in 2018, he was also the coordinator for the Trans-European Core Network Corridor Mediterranean .

His daughter Laurentien Brinkhorst has been married to Prince Constantijn von Oranien-Nassau , the youngest son of Queen Beatrix and Claus von Amsberg , since 2001 .

Web links

• CV in Parlement & Politiek

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Democrats 66
2. ^ Cabinet Kok II
3. ↑ Agroproductieparken: Perspectieven en dilemma’s ( Memento of April 30, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Rotterdam's Multi-Storied Agronomic Dome ( Memento from July 8, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
5. ↑ Cabinet beam end II