Lode Vereeck (born 23 January 1965) is a Belgian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, professor and politician of the

Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang (; ; VB) is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the polit ...

party, and formerly 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 ...

and Lijst Dedecker. Vereeck worked as a professor of macroeconomics in Belgium, the Netherlands and Argentina before serving as an economics advisor to the Flemish government and was later elected to the

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch language, Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislature, legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic reg ...

and the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( ; ; ) is one of the two chambers of the Bicameralism, bicameral Belgian Federal Parliament, Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be ...

. In 2024, he was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.

Biography

Early life and education

Vereeck was born in Deurne and raised in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

where his father worked as a school teacher. He attended the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp () is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UAntwerp''. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. ...

where he completed a bachelor's degree in international relations and economics before obtaining a PhD at

Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; ) is a public university, public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen List of universities in the Netherlands, Dutch universities. In ...

in the Netherlands in economics.

Academic career

Vereeck worked as an assistant professor at the University of Antwerp teaching

macroeconomics Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output (econ ...

from 1987 to 1992 and then worked as a professor of legal economics at the

Torcuato di Tella University The Torcuato Di Tella University () is a non-profit private university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Founded in 1991, the university focused primarily on social sciences. The undergraduate majors available are economics, business economics, digital ...

faculty of law in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. From 1992 to 2004 he also taught legal and tax economics at Faculty of Law of Maastricht University. In 2009, he took up a part-time teaching and research scholar post at

Hasselt University Hasselt University ( Dutch: ''Universiteit Hasselt or UHasselt'') is a public research university with campuses in Hasselt and Diepenbeek, Belgium. It has more than 7,500 students and 1,800 academic, administrative and technical staff (2023). Th ...

in public finance.

Political career

Vereeck joined the

party in 2000 and worked as a policy advisor to Flemish minister

Jaak Gabriëls Petrus Josephus Jacobus Gabriëls (22 September 1943 – 8 April 2024) was a Belgian politician and member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD) ( or VLD). He graduated in 1965 at the Catholic University of Leuven as Master of Philosophy ...

on the areas of employment and social security. He also advised the Flemish government on administrative simplification. In 2008, he left the Open VLD and joined the new LDD party founded by

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 ...

. It was announced that Vereeck would be the LDD's lead candidate for the Limburg constituency in the

for the

2009 Belgian regional elections Regional elections were held in Belgium on 7 June 2009 to choose representatives in the regional parliaments of Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels and the German-speaking Community of Belgium. These elections were held on the same day as the European elec ...

. He was elected and served as a member of the finance and budget committee in the Flemish Parliament. In March 2014, he was named "Best Politician" in the Flemish Parliament by the ''

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 ...

'' and ''

De Morgen ''De Morgen'' (; ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium. History and profile ''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meaning "Onwar ...

'' newspapers. As an opposition politician in the Flemish Parliament, he successfully tabled a motion against proposed laws to increase taxes levied on the distribution of real estate. In 2014, he briefly rejoined the Open VLD and served as a co-opted Senator in the Belgian Senate. In 2020, Vereeck joined the

and worked as a policy officer for the VB in 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 ...

and later for the party's scientific institute. In 2023, he was nominated as the party's lead candidate for the Antwerp constituency for the

2024 Belgian federal election Federal elections were held in Belgium on 9 June 2024. The Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives received 150 members with five-year terms. 2024 European Parliament election in Belgium, European and 2024 Belgian region ...

Controversy

In 2018, it was reported Hasselt University had started an investigation into Vereeck over possible inappropriate behaviour towards female students. The university board also dismissed Vereeck due to a breach of trust with the management and the students. Vereeck responded by claiming the accusations were a political smear campaign and pointed out that no official complaints had been filed by any students. In 2019, the Belgian Public Prosecution Service dismissed the investigation due to a lack of evidence.

Personal life

Vereeck met his wife at the University of Antwerp. They married in 1990 and have a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vereeck, Lode 1965 births Belgian economists Belgian educators Flemish politicians Libertair, Direct, Democratisch politicians Living people Maastricht University alumni Members of the 56th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats politicians University of Antwerp alumni Vlaams Belang politicians