Menno Snel (born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch politician. A member of the

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 ...

(D66) party, he served as State Secretary for Finance from 26 October 2017 until his resignation on 18 December 2019.

Education

Snel was born in Vleuten-De Meern in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

. He studied general economics between 1988 and 1994 at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

, where he was a board member at the student association RKSV Albertus Magnus.

Career

Professional life

After graduation, he worked at the Dutch bank

MeesPierson MeesPierson is a Netherlands-based private bank headquartered in Rotterdam. The bank is known for managing the assets of the Dutch royal family. History Until 2009, the bank was known as Fortis MeesPierson. The name derives from the November 199 ...

. In 1995, he joined the Ministry of Finance, of which a while as the Deputy Director-General for Fiscal Affairs, a position he was appointed in at age 33. During his time at the Finance Ministry, he worked on various dossiers, including the budget policy (most notably the Zalmnorm instituted by

Gerrit Zalm Gerrit Zalm (; born 6 May 1952) is a retired Dutch people, Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman. Zalm studied Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, obtaining a Master of Economics degree ...

) and international

tax competition Tax competition, a form of regulatory competition, exists when governments use reductions in fiscal burdens to encourage the inflow of productive resources or to discourage the exodus of those resources. Often, this means a governmental strategy o ...

between countries. He later worked for the pension fund

APG APG may refer to: * Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army installation in Aberdeen, Maryland **Phillips Army Airfield (IATA code), the airfield of the above * Aboriginal Provisional Government, Indigenous Australian independence movement * ...

, where he held from 2009 to 2011 the position of director strategy and policy. Between 2011 and 2016 he worked in Washington, D.C. with the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(IMF) in its daily governance and on 1 September 2016 he was appointed as chairman of the board of the Nederlandse Waterschapsbank.

Politics

On 26 October 2017, Snel joined the newly formed

Third Rutte cabinet The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022 (since 15 January 2021 demissionary). It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democra ...

as State Secretary for

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

. He joined the

(D66) a short while before his appointment and was considered a surprise and technical appointment by many. His portfolio includes Fiscal Affairs, Lower Governmental Finances, the

Royal Dutch Mint The Royal Dutch Mint (, abbreviated ) is a company founded in 1567 that is responsible for producing, among others, euro Dutch euro coins, coins for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is currently located in Houten, Netherlands, where it moved to ...

, Holland Casino and the State Lottery. His primary challenge is expected to be the reform of the

Tax and Customs Administration The Tax and Customs Administration () is the tax collection agency of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, operating under the Ministry of Finance. It's responsible for levying and collecting taxes, enforcing tax legislation, and investigating tax ...

, which went through a lot of turmoil in the recent past. Later, Snel was accused of (knowingly) unlawfully reclaiming subsidies paid out to citizens, for children, thus forcing these citizens into bankruptcies or lifelong repayment schemes. At least 300 parents have been affected, but were promised reimbursement by the government. The government has accused the Tax Service as a whole responsible. Employees were afraid to speak out in fear of losing their jobs. Hints of fraud have been hinted at from as early as 2014. In January 2021 this

Netherlands child welfare fraud scandal The Dutch childcare benefits scandal ( or , ) refers to a political scandal in the Netherlands involving false allegations of welfare fraud by the Tax and Customs Administration () against thousands of families claiming childcare benefits. Be ...

led the cabinet Rutte to collectively decide to resign and to continue as a

demissionary cabinet A demissionary cabinet () is a type of caretaker government, caretaker cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet or provisional government in the politics of the Netherlands, Netherlands. Overview The Dutch demissionary cabinet continues the current g ...

until the planned

2021 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands from 15 to 17 March 2021 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. Following the elections and lengthy coalition formation talks, the sitting government remained in power. The elect ...

. In 2022, Snel became the Netherlands’ nominee to succeed

Klaus Regling Klaus P. Regling (born 3 October 1950) is a German economist and the former Chief Executive Officer of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and Managing Director of the European Stability Mechanism. Regling was reportedly considered as ...

as Managing Director of the

European Stability Mechanism The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is an intergovernmental organization located in Luxembourg City, which operates under public international law for all eurozone member states having ratified a special ESM intergovernmental treaty. It was ...

.Paola Tamma (23 May 2022)
Finance ministers narrow options for eurozone bailout chief
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''.

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. M. (Menno) Snel
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Snel, Menno 1970 births Living people Democrats 66 politicians Dutch bankers Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch financial advisors International Monetary Fund people State secretaries for finance of the Netherlands People from Vleuten-De Meern University of Groningen alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch economists 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch economists 21st-century Dutch politicians