Christiaan "Chris" van Veen (19 December 1922 – 9 November 2009) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union (, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in September 1980. History 187 ...

(CHU) party now merged into 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 trade association executive.

Biography

Van Veen worked as a civil servant for the municipality of Den Bommel from February 1940 until September 1945 and for the municipality of

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was 59.642 in 2024, and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also i ...

from September 1945 until April 1960. Van Veen applied at the Free University Amsterdam in June 1952 majoring in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree in July 1953 and graduating with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree in June 1955. Van Veen worked as a civil servant for the municipality of

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town. Other v ...

city clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

from April 1960 until October 1964 and for the municipality of

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 ...

as city clerk from October 1964 until May 1967. After the election of 1967 Van Veen was appointed as State Secretary for the Interior in the Cabinet De Jong, taking office on 10 May 1967. Van Veen was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1971, taking office on 11 May 1971. Following the cabinet formation of 1971 Van Veen was appointment as Minister of Education and Sciences in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 6 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 and continued to serve in a

demissionary A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands. Overview The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...

capacity with Van Veen taking over as Minister for Higher Education and Science Policy on 21 July 1972 until it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Biesheuvel II with Van Veen continuing as Minister of Education and Sciences and Minister for Higher Education and Science Policy, taking office on 9 August 1972. In October 1972 Van Veen announced his retirement from national politics and that he would not stand for the election of 1972. The Cabinet Biesheuvel II was replaced by the Cabinet Den Uyl following the cabinet formation of 1972 on 11 May 1973. Van Veen semi-retired from national politics and became active in the

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 ...

, in August 1973 Van Veen was nominated as a trade association executive for the Industry and Employers' association, serving as Vice Chairman from 1 September 1973 until 1 January 1974. In December 1974 Van Veen was nominated as Chairman of the Industry and Employers' association serving from 1 January 1974 until 1 November 1984. Van Veen was nominated as an Extraordinary Member of the Council of State, serving from 1 February 1985 until 1 January 1993. Van Veen remained active in the public sector and continued to occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Radio Netherlands (RNW; ) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services in Dutch ended on 11 May 2012. Eng ...

and the

Centre for European Policy Studies The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is a leading think tank based in Brussels, Belgium. It was established in 1983. Its primary tasks are to conduct rigorous, evidence-based policy research on European and global issues, to serve as a ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Public Pension Funds APB, Raad voor Cultuur, SEO Economic Research 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 ...

) . Van Veen was known for his abilities as a

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 ...

and consensus builder. Van Veen continued to comment on political affairs until his death at the age of 86.

Decorations

References

External links

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Mr. Ch. (Chris) van Veen
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Veen, Chris van 1922 births 2009 deaths Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Christian Historical Union politicians City and town clerks Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch trade association executives Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Ministers of education of the Netherlands Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council People from Barneveld People from Goeree-Overflakkee Politicians from Groningen (city) People from Hoogeveen People from Rijswijk Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands State Secretaries for the Interior of the Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians