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Derk Jan Eppink (born 7 November 1958) is a Dutch
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
, politician in the Netherlands, and former cabinet secretary for European Commissioners Bolkestein (1999–2004) and Kallas (2004–2007). In 2009, he was elected to the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
for
List Dedecker Libertarian, Direct, Democratic (, ; LDD) is a conservative-liberal, libertarian, right-wing populist Flemish political party in Belgium. The party surprised commentators by winning five seats in the Chamber and one seat in the Senate in 2007, ...
, and in 2019 for
Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( ; FvD) is a far-right political party in the Netherlands, originally founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2015 before registering itself as a party the following year. The FvD first participated i ...
. In 2021, he became an MP in the Dutch
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
for the JA21 party, but in 2023 he switched to the Farmer-Citizen Movement. He sits on the European Conservatives and Reformists Group Executive. Eppink was born in Steenderen,
Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...
. He studied Dutch law at the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...
(1977–1981) and thereafter European law and International Politics at the University of Amsterdam. In 1984 he moved to Brussels to become trainee at the European Commission. Thereafter he worked for 3 years as assistant to Members of the European Parliament. In 1987, Derk Jan Eppink joined the Dutch newspaper ''
NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...
'' where he was assigned to the foreign desk. He covered
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, worked as correspondent in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
and became political editor reporting on Dutch politics in
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
. In 1995, he moved to the Flemish newspaper ''
De Standaard (, ) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Sociali ...
'' where he reported on Belgian politics. He wrote two books on his experiences in Belgian politics: ''Vreemde Buren'' (Odd neighbors), ''Avonturen van een Nederbelg'' (Adventures of a Nether-Belgian). In October 1999, he started working as member of cabinet of Dutch European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein. He was Bolkestein's liaison with the European Parliament, speechwriter and also assigned to liberalization of postal markets. In 2004, in co-operation with Bolkestein, he published the book '' The Limits of Europe''. In October 2004 Eppink joined the cabinet of Siim Kallas, European Commissioner from
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
, responsible for administration, audit and anti-fraud. In March 2007 Eppink published his book ''Life of a European Mandarin'' describing his experiences in the European Commission. A lecture he gave about this subject and about the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
in general, at the Roosevelt Academy on 14 November 2007. The book has been published in Dutch, French, English, Estonian, and Czech. In 2007 Eppink moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
as his wife worked for the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
. He reported on the 2008 American presidential election for Flemish magazines Knack and Trends. He wrote a column on foreign affairs for Dutch weekly
Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...
and is contributor to various Dutch and Flemish radio and television programs, like VRT, , NOS ''Met het Oog op Morgen'', RTL ''Business Class''. He wrote in 2011-2012 a column for
NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country. History was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...
and since 2013 he writes for
De Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...
. His speeches on video can be retrieved through the
Roosevelt Academy University College Roosevelt (UCR), formerly known as Roosevelt Academy (RA), is a small, Honors colleges and programs, honors undergraduate liberal arts college, liberal arts and science college located in Middelburg, Zeeland, Middelburg in th ...
in Middelburg, the
University of Maastricht A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
, the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...
and Mississippi National Public Radio. In January 2007, Eppink received the 2006 Prize of Liberty from the Flemish libertarian think tank Nova Civitas. In 2009, Eppink returned to Belgium to run for the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
for the List Dedecker party. He shares similar views to the party's leader
Jean-Marie Dedecker Jean-Marie Louis Dedecker (born 13 June 1952) is a Belgian politician. In 1999 and 2003, Dedecker was directly elected to the Belgian Senate for the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD). In 2004, he ran for a seat in the Flemish Parliament, a ...
. In an article in November 2013, Eppink made the point that fiscal consolidation in Ireland had worked well, and that the breakdown in Greece could not be blamed on so-called 'austerity'. Not re-elected in 2014, in July 2019 he was elected a member of the European Parliament for the Dutch right wing party
Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( ; FvD) is a far-right political party in the Netherlands, originally founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2015 before registering itself as a party the following year. The FvD first participated i ...
(FvD). In 2020, Eppink, along with the FvD's two other MEPs,He subsequently joined the JA21 party and in 2021 was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives for the party.Baudet faces task of rebuilding Dutch far-right party after reelection
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
, 7 December 2020
Eppink signed the '' Madrid Charter'', a document drafted by the
far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
Spanish party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of
Ibero-America Ibero-America (, ) or Iberian America is generally considered to be the region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish or Portuguese are predominant languages (usually former colony, territories of Spain or Portugal). Sp ...
involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".


Electoral history


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eppink, Derk Jan 1958 births Living people Dutch civil servants Dutch libertarians Dutch newspaper editors Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch political journalists Dutch reporters and correspondents European civil servants Farmer–Citizen Movement politicians Forum for Democracy MEPs JA21 politicians Libertair, Direct, Democratisch MEPs Libertair, Direct, Democratisch politicians Magazine writers Dutch MPs 2021–2023 MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014 MEPs for the Netherlands 2019–2024 People from Bronckhorst Farmer–Citizen Movement MPs