Maggie Celine Louise De Block (; born 28 April 1962) is a Belgian politician of the

Open VLD The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (, , Open Vld) is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. The party has been described as centre-right and has smaller factions within the party that have conservative liberal and social liberal ...

who has been chairing her party's group in the Chamber of Representatives since 2020. De Block served as Minister of Social Affairs and Health in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

s of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the president of the European Council from 2019 to 2024. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Belgium, prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Miche ...

and Sophie Wilmès from 2014 until 2020. Following a reshuffle on 9 December 2018 to prevent the government's collapse, she additionally resumed responsibility for Asylum and Migration.

Early life and career

Maggie Celine Louise De Block was born in Merchtem, Province of Brabant (present-day

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( ; ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Hainaut and East Flanders. Flemish Brabant also ...

) on 28 April 1962. She was the first of three children born to Jan De Block who worked at the Belgian railway company the

NMBS/SNCB The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de V ...

. After her first brother was born, her mother became a housewife to care for the children. When Maggie was seven her father died in a car accident. Five months later her mother gave birth to Maggie's second brother who they called Jan after their father. De Block went to the former secondary school ''Koninklijk Lyceum'' (now ''Lyceum Martha Somers Brussel'') in

Laeken (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, municipality of the ...

. After her graduation, she studied medicine at the . Still a student in 1982, De Block married Luc Asselman. They have two children. She graduated as a family doctor.

Political career

Member of Parliament, 1999–2011

In 1999, De Block nominated herself for the federal election as member of the liberal party also known as VLD. During the elections, she was elected as a Member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde.

Early career in government, 2011–2014

Four years after the election she became Secretary of the Chamber of Representatives for four years. In 2010, De Block also became Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee until the following year. De Block was chosen to become Secretary of State for Asylum, Immigration, and Social Integration in the newly Di Rupo Government which would be formed in December 2011. On 6 December, she becomes Secretary of State for Asylum, Immigration, and Social Integration and part of the Federal Government. In December 2012, De Block became the vice-chair of the party. In March 2013, she was voted woman of the year by readers of the francophone newspaper ''

La Libre Belgique ''La Libre Belgique'' (; ), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in both Brussels and Wallonia. ''La Libre'' was ...

''. In 2013, and 2014 polls, she became the most popular Flemish politician, ahead of the Minister-President of Flanders Kris Peeters. De Block became Minister of Justice charged with Asylum, Immigration, Social Integration, and Poverty Reduction in the Di Rupo Government in July 2014.

Minister of Health, 2014–2020

In the

of Prime Minister

formed in October 2014, De Block became Minister of Social Affairs and Health. When taking the oath, she described the portfolio as "her dream". Critics have said that she does not set the right example as Health Minister due to her

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

, and she has answered that "I know I'm not a model but you have to see what's inside, not the packaging". During her time as minister, De Block was involved in coordinating the Belgian response to the

Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in West Africa, was the most widespread outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and S ...

. In 2015, she led a joint effort of Belgium and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to negotiate the purchase of remedies for

rare disease A rare disease is any disease that affects a small percentage of the population. In some parts of the world, the term orphan disease describes a rare disease whose rarity results in little or no funding or research for treatments, without financi ...

s with pharmaceutical groups. In June 2015, she signed a royal decree legalising certain uses of medical

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

, which at the time only included Sativex oral spray for

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

. By 2015, De Block was the most popular politician in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, making her the most popular politician in Belgium. In 2018, under De Block direction as health minister, the strategic reserve of FFP2 masks was destroyed because of being out of date and not replenished. She claimed she did not replenish them to save taxpayer money. This decision came under fire during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

when the shortage of masks contributed to making Belgium one of the hardest-hit countries. In September 2018, De Block decided to introduce plain packaging for all tobacco products in Belgium. On 9 December 2018, it was announced that De Block would be responsible again for Asylum and Migration, replacing Theo Francken. She held the post in a previous government. Her official title in the caretaker Michel II government and in the succeeding Wilmès government was Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, and Asylum Policy and Migration. During the early phase of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium The COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020, when one of a group of nine Belgians repatriated from Wuhan to Brussels was repor ...

, De Block oversaw the government's response. In May 2020, she called on European Union countries to be “united” in the distribution of protective face masks. By July 2020, she publicly cited the lack of greater coordination with Belgium's neighbours –

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the Netherlands – as a “big concern”. De Block was not re-appointed to the government led by

Alexander De Croo Alexander De Croo (; born 3 November 1975) is a Belgian politician and businessman who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2020 to 2025. Previously from 2012 to 2020, De Croo served as deputy prime minister in the governments of Elio Di Rup ...

and instead became a regular member of the Belgian Parliament again.

Other activities

In 2020, De Block was appointed by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

’s Regional Office for Europe to serve as a member of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, chaired by

Mario Monti Mario Monti (; born 19 March 1943) is an Italian politician, economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a Technocratic government (Italy), technocratic government in the wake of the European sov ...

. Also since 2020, De Block has been an alternate member of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, co-chaired by

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

and

Mia Mottley Mia "Ma" Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to h ...

. She also joined the WHO's Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for One Health.

Honours

* : Commander in the Order of Leopold IIarrêtés royaux du 21 mai 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Block, Maggie 1962 births 21st-century Belgian women politicians Belgian general practitioners Commanders of the Order of Leopold II Female justice ministers Flemish politicians Government ministers of Belgium Health ministers of Belgium Living people Members of the 50th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 51st Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 52nd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 53rd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 54th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Members of the 55th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Ministers of justice of Belgium Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats politicians People from Merchtem Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni Women government ministers of Belgium Women members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium)