Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen (; born 14 September 1956) is a retired Dutch politician and historian. A member of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA), he served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2012 under Prime Minister

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

. A native of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

, Verhagen studied

contemporary history Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, obtaining a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree. Verhagen worked as a political consultant and campaign manager for the Christian Democratic Appeal from February 1986 until July 1989. In the European parliamentary election of 1989 Verhagen was elected a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

. In the election of 1994 Verhagen was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives, serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then know ...

and the party

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United S ...

and European Affairs. After the election of 2002

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

and

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

Jan Peter Balkenende became Prime Minister and Verhagen was selected as his successor as parliamentary leader on 11 July 2002. After the election of 2003 Verhagen continued as parliamentary leader. Following the election of 2006 Verhagen was appointed as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

in the Cabinet Balkenende IV, taking office on 22 February 2007. The Cabinet Balkenende IV fell exactly 3 years into its term and Verhagen took over as

Minister for Development Cooperation The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Aid () is a Minister without Portfolio (Netherlands), minister without portfolio in the Netherlands. The officeholder, who is a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands, Cabinet and the Council of M ...

on 23 February 2010. Shortly after the election of 2010 Balkenende announced he was stepping down as party leader and Verhagen was anonymously selected as his successor on 9 June 2010. After the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

Verhagen returned to the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader on 17 June 2010 and following a successful cabinet formation with Liberal Leader

formed the Cabinet Rutte I with Verhagen appointed as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation taking office on 14 October 2010. The Cabinet Rutte I fell 18 months into its term and shortly thereafter Verhagen unexpectedly announced his retirement and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 2012. Verhagen retired from active politics at 56 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director, and works as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Construction association since July 2013 and became a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO-NCW) in October 2015.

Early life and education

Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen was born on 14 September 1956 in

in the Netherlands Province of Limburg in a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family. He studied at

where he obtained a

degree in History in 1986. For a brief period during his college years, Verhagen was associated with both left-wing radicalism and the liberal

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD). He joined the CDA in 1976.

Politics

Verhagen started working for the CDA and was elected to the city council of

Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in . Etymology The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the Geest, geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeent ...

, and then elected as a

for the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

after the European Parliament election of 1989. After the general election of 1994, he was elected to the

House of Representatives of the Netherlands The House of Representatives ( , literally "Second Chamber of the States General", or simply ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General of the Netherlands, States General, the other one ...

. On 11 July 2002 he became CDA

in the House of Representatives. After became

in the

fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The Cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was formed by ...

in 2007, he was succeeded in that position by Pieter van Geel. After the resignation of the Labour Party ministers, he became interim

When the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and

Parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

in 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 ...

Jan Peter Balkenende became

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Verhagen succeed him as the

in the

on 11 July 2002. During the Cabinets Balkenende I, II en III Verhagen became the unofficial Deputy leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal. He became the

in the Cabinet Balkenende IV serving from 22 February 2007 to 14 October 2010, while he also served as

following the resignation from Bert Koenders. As such, at the request of gay rights groups, Verhagen called upon the Nuncio to the Netherlands, Monsignor François Bacqué, to respond to accusations that the Roman Catholic Church opposed homosexual rights. He later expressed concern at the lifting of the excommunication of controversial bishop Richard Williamson, a member of the Society of Saint Pius X. The

did badly in the general election of 2010, and the then

Party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

and

, Jan Peter Balkenende, resigned the same day. Verhagen replaced him as

leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

of the

parliamentary party. After the 2010 Dutch cabinet formation Verhagen became the Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and

in the first Rutte cabinet. Verhagen resigned in November 2012, together with the rest of the cabinet.

Other activities

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, shortened to EBRD ( French: ''Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement'' or ''BERD''), is an international financial institution founded in 1991 in Paris. As a multilat ...

(EBRD), Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (2007-2010)

Controversy

In 2021, Dutch newspaper

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- ...

published about an

integrity Integrity is the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and Honesty, truthfulness or of one's actions. Integr ...

case study in which Maxime Verhagen was involved. Verhagen had been paid by the Province of Limburg to negotiate with industrial company VDL Groep as an 'ambassador' of the Province of Limburg. At the same time, Verhagen was on VDL Groep's payroll as an advisor. Verhagen was subsequently fired by the Province of Limburg.

Personal

Verhagen is married to Annemieke Beijlevelt since 1984 and has 2 sons and 1 daughter. They live in Voorburg.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Drs. M.J.M. (Maxime) Verhagen
Parlement & Politiek , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Verhagen, Maxime 1956 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal MEPs Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Contemporary historians Deputy prime ministers of the Netherlands Dutch campaign managers Dutch corporate directors Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch political consultants Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch trade association executives Leaders of the Christian Democratic Appeal Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Members of the Social and Economic Council MEPs for the Netherlands 1989–1994 Ministers for development cooperation of the Netherlands Ministers of agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of economic affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of foreign affairs of the Netherlands Municipal councillors in South Holland Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Politicians from Maastricht People from Oegstgeest People from Voorburg Recipients of the Decoration of Merit Sint-Maartenscollege (Maastricht) alumni 20th-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch historians Christian Democratic Appeal MPs