Maxime Verhagen

Maxime Verhagen (2007)

Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (born September 14, 1956 in Maastricht ) is a Dutch politician ( CDA ). From 2010 to 2012 he was Minister for the Economy, Agriculture and Innovation and Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands in the Rutte I cabinet . Previously, he was Foreign Minister in the Balkenende IV cabinet .

Life

Verhagen studied history at the University of Leiden until 1986. In 1976 he became a member of the CDA party and was a member of the Oegstgeest council until 1989 . From 1989 to 1994 he was a member of the European Parliament . On May 17, 1994 he became a member of the Second Chamber of the States General . Within the CDA he was elected parliamentary group chairman on July 11, 2002 to succeed Jan Peter Balkenende .

On February 22, 2007, he became Foreign Minister of the Netherlands in the Balkenende IV cabinet and succeeded Ben Bot in this office . Verhagen's successor as parliamentary group leader was Pieter van Geel . In February 2010, the cabinet fell, and Verhagen was only executive. In addition, he took over the development aid department from a resigned social democratic colleague. From 2010 to 2012 he was party leader of the CDA, initially in the function of parliamentary group chairman, then from October 14, 2010 as Minister for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. He also led the coalition negotiations for the CDA, which led to the formation of the Rutte I minority government.

Web links

Commons : Maxime Verhagen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Drs. MJM (Maxime) Verhagen , Parlement & Politiek (Dutch)
• Entry on Maxime Verhagen in the Members' database of the European Parliament