Cornelis Constant Maria (Kees) Vendrik (30 January 1963 in

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

) is a member of the

Netherlands Court of Audit The Court of Audits (in Dutch: ''Algemene Rekenkamer'') is an independent body that audits the spending of the national government on its efficiency and legitimacy. The Court of Audits is appointed by the cabinet of the Netherlands on the advice ...

Before politics

Vendrik studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

and the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. After his studies he worked for the debating centre ''De Balie'' in Amsterdam and as assistant of GreenLeft

parliamentary party A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

in the House of Representatives.

Political life

Vendrik was a member of the

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

GreenLeft (, ; GL) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the ...

. He used to be the party's specialist on the economy, finance, the health care system and international trade. He is an advocate of the use of

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

by government agencies. He was a member of the State Committee on Rule of Law, established by the cabinet, parliament, and judicial branch in response to political scandals that harmed public trust such as the childcare benefits scandal, induced earthquakes in Groningen due to gas extraction, and the nitrogen crisis. It concluded in June 2024 that trust in the government had been damaged by a neglect of the rule of law and by overly-complicated rules and procedures.

References

External links

Profile on parlement.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vendrik, Kees 1963 births Living people Dutch MPs 1998–2002 Dutch MPs 2002–2003 Dutch MPs 2003–2006 Dutch MPs 2006–2010 GroenLinks politicians Members of the Court of Audit (Netherlands) Pacifist Socialist Party politicians People from Nijmegen Radboud University Nijmegen alumni