Leo de Block (14 August 1904 – 4 January 1988) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. De Block attended the

Ignatius Gymnasium , logo = , image = Ignatiusgymnasium.jpg , image_size = 270px , alt = , caption = St. Ignatius Gymnasium in Amsterdam , motto = , location = Jan van Eijckstraat , city = Amsterdam , province = , country = Netherlands , coordinates = ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

from April 1917 until May 1923 and applied at the Leiden University in June 1923

majoring An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conc ...

in Law and obtaining an

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

degree in June 1925 before graduating with a

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

degree in July 1929. De Block worked as a financial analyst for the

Amsterdamsche Bank The AMsterdamsche en ROtterdamsche Bank (AMRO Bank , "Bank of Amsterdam and Rotterdam") was a major Dutch bank that was created in 1964 by the merger of the Amsterdamsche Bank (est. 1871) and the Rotterdamsche Bank (est. 1863). In 1991, it merged ...

from September 1923 until October 1928 and for the from October 1928 until August 1945 and for the Management Institute from August 1945 until July 1946. De Block worked as

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

(CEO) of the Incasso Bank from July 1946 until February 1947. De Block worked as a civil servant for the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and ...

from February 1947 until May 1959 as Director-General of the department of Budgetary Affairs from February 1947 until March 1953 and as Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance from March 1953 until April 1959 and for the Ministry of Economic Affairs as Director-General of the department for General Economic Policy from April 1959 until May 1960. In May 1960 he was nominated as Chief financial officer (CFO) of KLM. After the election of 1963 De Block was appointed as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Marijnen, taking office on 3 September 1963. The Cabinet Marijnen fell on 27 February 1965 after a disagreement in the coalition about reforms to the

public broadcasting system The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1965 when it was replaced by the Cabinet Cals with De Block continuing as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, taking office on 4 May 1965. The Cabinet Cals fell on 14 October 1966 after the Leader of the Catholic People's Party Norbert Schmelzer had proposed a motion that called for a stronger austerity policy to further reduce the

deficit A deficit is the amount by which a sum falls short of some reference amount. Economics * Balance of payments deficit, when the balance of payments is negative * Government budget deficit * Deficit spending, the amount by which spending exceeds ...

was seen an indirect

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1966 when it was replaced by the caretaker Cabinet Zijlstra with De Block remaining State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and also appointed as State Secretary for Transport and Water Management and dual served in those positions, taking office on 22 November 1966. In December De Block announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1967. Following the cabinet formation of 1967 De Block was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet De Jong, taking office on 5 April 1967. On 7 January 1970 De Block resigned after he disagreed with the cabinets decision to increase the wages in the metal industry but another reason was criticism on his leadership in the handling of the rising inflation after the introduction of the

Value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

(BTW). De Block semi-retired from in national politics and became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, 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 ...

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, in ...

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

ING Group The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment ...

, Robeco and Van Lanschot) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Cadastre Agency,

Dutch Transport Safety Board The Dutch Transport Safety Board (Raad voor de Transportveiligheid, RvTV) was an agency of the government of the Netherlands. Its head office was originally on the fifth floor of the Bruggebouw West in The Hague. It later moved to Anna van Saksenl ...

and the Advisory Council for Foreign Affairs).

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. L. (Leo) de Block
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Leo de 1904 births 1988 deaths Businesspeople from Amsterdam Van Lanschot Kempen people Catholic People's Party politicians Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch bankers Dutch chief executives in the airline industry Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch financial analysts Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch Roman Catholics Leiden University alumni Ministers of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands Politicians from The Hague State Secretaries for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands State Secretaries for Transport of the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians