Berend "Bert" de Vries (born 29 March 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA) party and economist. De Vries attended a

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

from April 1950 until May 1958 and applied at the Rijksbelastingacademie in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in June 1958 for a training as a tax collector graduating in August 1959 and simultaneously applied at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

in July 1958 majoring in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Economics A Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon)Bureau of Labor StatisticsHow to Become an Economist/ref> is an academic degree, awarded to students who have completed specialised undergraduate studies in economics. Variants include the "Bachelor of Econo ...

degree in June 1960 and worked as student researcher before graduating with a

Master of Economics The Master of Economics (MEcon or MEc) is a postgraduate master's degree in economics comprising training in economic theory, econometrics, and/or applied economics. The degree is also offered as an MS or MSc, MA or MCom in economics; var ...

degree in July 1964. De Vries worked as a civil servant for the

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

as a tax collector for the

Tax and Customs Administration The Tax and Customs Administration () is the tax collection agency of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, operating under the Ministry of Finance. It's responsible for levying and collecting taxes, enforcing tax legislation, and investigating tax ...

from August 1959 until July 1964 and as a financial analyst for

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

from July 1964 until January 1968. De Vries applied at the Free University Amsterdam in January 1968 for a

postgraduate education Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

Financial economics Financial economics is the branch of economics characterized by a "concentration on monetary activities", in which "money of one type or another is likely to appear on ''both sides'' of a trade".William F. Sharpe"Financial Economics", in Its co ...

and got a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

as a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in Financial economics in July 1970. De Vries worked as a researcher at the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian. Erasmus M ...

from May 1968 until November 1978. De Vries served on the Anti-Revolutionary Party Executive Board from March 1975 until November 1978. De Vries became a Member of the House of Representatives after the resignation of

Willem Aantjes Willem "Wim" Aantjes (; 16 January 1923 – 22 October 2015) was a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). A jurist by occupation, Aantjes was elected to the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of Representatives on ...

, taking office on 21 November 1978 serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for Economic Affairs,

Social Affairs A ministry of social affairs or department of social affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of su ...

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have a small number of employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being ...

, Provincial Government Affairs and deputy spokesperson for

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

and Local Government Affairs. After the election of 1982 the

Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal The Party leader, Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal is the most senior politician within the Christian Democratic Appeal (, CDA) in the Netherlands.The current leader has been Henri Bontenbal since 14 August 2023. History The leaders o ...

and

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Refug ...

became Prime Minister in te Cabinet Lubbers I, the Christian Democratic Appeal leadership approached De Vries as his successor as Parliamentary leader, De Vries accepted and became the Parliamentary leader, taking office on 4 November 1982. After the election of 1986 Lubbers returned as Parliamentary leader on 3 June 1986 but following the cabinet formation of 1986 Lubbers continued as Prime Minister in the Cabinet Lubbers II and De Vries was approached to remain as Parliamentary leader, taking office on 14 July 1986. As Parliamentary leader of the largest party in the House of Representatives he also chaired the parliamentary committee for Intelligence and Security. After the election of 1989 Lubbers again returned as Parliamentary leader on 14 September 1989. Following the cabinet formation of 1989 De Vries was appointed as

Minister of Social Affairs and Employment The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (; SZW) is the Dutch ministry responsible for social affairs, relations between employers and employees, social security, trade unions and emancipation. It was established in 1918 as the Ministry ...

in the Cabinet Lubbers III, taking office on 7 November 1989. De Vries served as acting Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries from 18 September 1990 until 28 September 1990 following the resignation of

Gerrit Braks Gerardus Johannes Maria "Gerrit" Braks (23 May 1933 – 12 July 2017) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Braks applied at the Wageningen Ag ...

. In December 1993 De Vries announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1994. The Cabinet Lubbers III was replaced by the Cabinet Kok I following the cabinet formation of 1994 on 22 August 1994. De Vries semi-retired from national politics and became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

and

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

, Energy Research Centre,

Tinbergen Institute The Tinbergen Institute is a leading research and graduate education institute for Economics and Business. Established in 1987, the institute is named afteJan Tinbergen a Nobel laureate in economics (1969), and is a collaboration between the School ...

, NIBC Bank and

Arcadis Arcadis NV is a global design, engineering and management consulting company based in the Zuidas, Amsterdam, Netherlands. It currently operates in more than 350 offices in 40 countries. The company is a member of the Next 150 index. Arcadis was ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Public Pension Funds APB, Sociale Verzekeringsbank, Raad voor Cultuur,

Statistics Netherlands Statistics Netherlands, founded in 1899, is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. In Dutch it is known as the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (''Central Agency for Statistics''), often a ...

, Cadastre Agency, Social Employment Act Commission and the

Social and Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a Publiekrechtelijke Bedrijfsorganisatie, system of sector-based ...

). De Vries also worked as a trade association executive for the Nederlandse Vereniging van Ziekenhuizen serving as chairman of the executive board from June 1995 until August 2001 and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for the

Anti-war movement An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during con ...

Human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and the

Two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

for the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

. De Vries also served as a distinguished professor of Financial economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam from 1 December 1994 until 1 December 1998. De Vries served as Chairman of the Christian Democratic Appeal from 10 October 2001 until 2 November 2002 following the resignation of Marnix van Rij. De Vries is known for his abilities as a negotiator and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. De Vries continued to comment on political affairs until his retirement in 2018 and holds the distinction as the second longest-serving Parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives with 6 years, 273 days.

Biography

Early life

Berend de Vries was born in

. His father had a detective agency. As a student, he was employed to assist in observation work, for collecting evidence of adultery. After the Mulo he was an official of the IRS. In the evening he attended the HBS. As a working student, he attended the study economics at the

and he received a

degree. Through the work at

, he joined

, where he worked in the finance department. Thereafter (from 1968 to 1978) he worked at the

Erasmus University Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public university, public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus, Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christia ...

. At the same time he received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Economic Sciences at the

Vrije Universiteit The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the othe ...

Politics

In 1978 he was elected as a member of the

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party (, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and minister who served as Prime Mi ...

as a Member of the House of Representatives. In 1982 he became leader of the CDA. He ruled the fraction with an iron fist and did not allow dissidents. Group Members Jan Nico Scholten and Stef Dijkman had to leave in 1983. As minister he steered the ''Arbeidsvoorzieningswet'' and ''Jeugdwerkgarantiewet'' by the First and Second Chamber. He was also the architect of the so-called Bami agreement on adaptation of the WAO. The name Bami agreement refers to the fact that during the consultations in the home of Bert de Vries, a meal of Chinese take-away food was consumed. With this agreement, the fall of the third Lubbers cabinet prevented. After his departure from active politics until 1998 he was part-time professor of financial and economic policy at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. After the forced resignation of Marnix van Rij in 2001, De Vries took over as chairman of the

for a year.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Dr. B. (Bert) de Vries
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Vries, Bert de 1938 births Living people Anti–Iraq War activists Anti-Revolutionary Party politicians Chairmen of the Christian Democratic Appeal Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Commanders of the Legion of Honour Dutch anti-war activists Dutch financial analysts Dutch fiscal jurists Dutch human rights activists Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch activists Dutch trade association executives Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Financial economists Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Israeli–Palestinian peace process Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council Ministers of agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of social affairs of the Netherlands Netherlands Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands People from Ede, Netherlands Politicians from Groningen (city) Philips employees Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Tax collectors University of Groningen alumni Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch economists 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch politicians Christian Democratic Appeal MPs