Marieke Koekkoek (born 26 February 1989) is a Dutch lawyer and politician for the pro-European party

Volt Netherlands Volt Netherlands (, commonly abbreviated to Volt) is a political party in the Netherlands. It is the Dutch chapter of Volt Europa, a political movement that operates on a European level. History Volt Netherlands was founded in Utrecht on 23 June ...

. She was elected to 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 ...

in the 2021 general election owing to the number of

preference votes Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems: * Any electoral system that allows a voter to indicate multiple preferences where preferences marked are weighted or used as cont ...

she received. Prior to being a member of parliament, she studied law and worked as a legal intern.

Early life and career

Koekkoek was born in the Dutch capital of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and grew up in its neighbourhood

Zuidoost Amsterdam-Zuidoost (; "Amsterdam-Southeast") is a borough (''stadsdeel'') of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It consists of four residential neighborhoods—Bijlmermeer, Venserpolder, Gaasperdam and Driemond—as well as the Amstel III/Bullewijk B ...

. Her parents were elementary school teachers. After having spent a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

in Australia and Europe, she started studying Dutch law at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

in 2008. She was a member of its study association Urios and chaired Urios's

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN (MUN), is an educational simulation of the United Nations, which teaches students about diplomacy, international relations, global issues, and how the United Nations is run. During a model UN confe ...

Society. After her graduation in 2011, Koekkoek studied a year at 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 ...

and another year at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

, obtaining

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s in International Trade and Investment Law and in International Economic Law and Policy, respectively. In October 2013, Koekkoek joined the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

's Centre for Global Governance Studies as a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

student and researcher. She specialized in

international commercial law International commercial law is a body of legal rules, conventions, treaties, domestic legislation and commercial customs or usages, that governs international commercial or business transactions. A transaction will qualify to be international if ...

and returned to the Netherlands in 2017, while she kept working at KU Leuven. Koekkoek lived in China for some time in 2019 to teach at the

China-EU School of Law The China-EU School of Law (CESL; ) at the China University of Political Science and Law is an international law school primarily located in Beijing, China. CESL was founded on the basis of an agreement between the European Community and the go ...

. She became a legal intern for

Fieldfisher Fieldfisher LLP is a multinational law firm headquartered in London. The firm has 26 offices located in countries around the world. It advises national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments. Fieldfisher is also kno ...

in Amsterdam in September 2019.

Politics

Koekkoek joined the new pro-European party Volt in 2018 after she had been a member of

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

. She was involved in creating the party's European

platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...

and participated in the

2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 23 May 2019. It was the ninth time such an election had been held in the Netherlands. The number of Dutch seats had been set to increase from 26 to 29 followi ...

as Volt's 22nd candidate. She was placed fourth on the

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

in the 2021 general election and again helped write the platform. Koekkoek campaigned on LGBT rights and on immigration. She wanted the procedure for

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...

s to become quicker, and she wanted them to have the right to work and to learn the Dutch language while awaiting the results of their asylum application. Even though Volt won three seats in the election, Koekkoek was elected to the

because of her 37,093

at the expense of Volt's third candidate, Ernst Boutkan. Koekkoek was one of three candidates in the 2021 election who were elected due to their preference votes. In late 2022, the House of Representatives passed a

motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...

by Koekkoek and

Hülya Kat Hülya Kat (born 1 August 1983) is a Dutch politician, serving as a member of the House of Representatives on behalf of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66). She was a member of the Velsen municipal council between 2010 and 2018, when she ...

( D66) to have the government provide free period products to low-income households. Koekkoek called it a start and advocated making them free for everyone. She vacated her seat between 15 March and 5 July 2023 to go on a

parental leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

and was temporarily replaced by Ernst Boutkan. In the House, she is on the following committees: * Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality * Committee for Digital Affairs * Committee for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation * Committee for Health, Welfare and Sport * Committee for Infrastructure and Water Management * Committee for the Interior * Committee for Justice and Security * Committee for Kingdom Relations * Petitions committee * Committee for Social Affairs and Employment Koekkoek headed the committee that wrote Volt's

election program A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

for the November 2023 general election. The party received two seats, and Koekkoek was re-elected.

Personal life

Koekkoek lives in the

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

neighbourhood of

Leidsche Rijn Leidsche Rijn (, ) is a new construction site and neighborhood in Utrecht, the capital of the Dutch province of Utrecht. The area is located west of the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal and its name is derived from the Leidse Rijn canal, which runs th ...

. Her husband is from China, having come to the Netherlands to study and work, and she has three children. Koekkoek can play violin.

Electoral history

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koekkoek, Marieke 1989 births Living people 21st-century Dutch lawyers 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch women lawyers Dutch MPs 2021–2023 Dutch MPs 2023– Politicians from Amsterdam Utrecht University alumni Volt Europa politicians Lawyers from Amsterdam LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the Netherlands Dutch bisexual women Bisexual women politicians Politicians from Utrecht (city) KU Leuven alumni University of Amsterdam alumni University of Barcelona alumni 21st-century Dutch LGBTQ people