Leo de Block
Leo de Block (born August 14, 1904 in The Hague ; † January 4, 1988 there ) was a Dutch politician ( KVP ). He was Minister of Economics in Piet de Jong's cabinet .
Life
De Block worked at Amsterdamsche Bank from 1923 to 1928 and then from 1928 to 1945 at Incasso-Bank. After a brief interlude from 1945 to 1946 at the Nederlandsche Beheersinstituut, he was briefly director of the Incasso-Bank from 1946 to 1947.
In 1947 de Block came to the Treasury and was responsible for foreign exchange investments. In 1953 he became deputy thesaurus general in the Ministry of Finance, one of the highest positions to be awarded there. In 1959 he was appointed General Director for Industrialization and Energy Supply in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. After moving to the national airline KLM as Finance Director in 1960 , de Block returned to politics in 1963 and became State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry with responsibility for European Cooperation and Transport. From 1966 to 1967 he was also State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, where he was entrusted with international transport matters. In 1967, de Block unexpectedly became Minister of Economic Affairs when other candidates had previously turned down.
To de block work as ministers include the 1967 entry into force of the law on mineral extraction in the country and carried IJsselmeer , the 1965 by Joop den Uyl had been initiated at the same time this was also a law for the oil and gas production in the North Sea . In 1968 it was decided under him to work with Great Britain and Germany in the Urenco project. The introduction of VAT on January 1, 1969 finally caused de Block considerable difficulties. The prices rose sharply after the introduction, which exposed him to strong criticism. Finally, in April of that year, he was forced to introduce a price regulation, which was replaced by a new price regulation in September. His wage policy was also criticized, so there were disputes in the Council of Ministers over the unchanged metal collective agreement. De Block feared that this would not break the wage price spiral, which would have an impact on the labor market. De Block finally resigned in January 1970.
After his ministerial tenure, de Block was chairman of the Foundation Dutch Study Center for Administrative Automation in Amsterdam .
Honors
- 1965: Large silver medal on ribbon for services to the Republic of Austria
- 1970: Commander of the Order of the Dutch Lion
Web links
- Leo de Block on parlement.com (Dutch)
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Block, Leo de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 14, 1904 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | The hague |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th January 1988 |
| Place of death | The hague |