Theodorus Engelbertus "Tjerk" Westerterp (2 December 1930 – 7 October 2023) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

(KVP) now merged into 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) party and businessman.

Early life

Westerterp attended a gymnasium in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

from April 1943 until May 1949 and applied at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...

in June 1949 majoring in

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, obtaining a

Bachelor of Social Science The Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSc or BSocSci) is an undergraduate degree. It typically requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. It c ...

degree in 1951 before switching to

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

and graduating with 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 in Journalism in July 1953. Westerterp worked as a journalist and editor for the '' De Maasbode'' from June 1949 until July 1953, and as a civil servant for the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to integrate Europe's coal and steel industries into a single common market based on the principle of supranationalism which would be governe ...

(ECSC) in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

from July 1953 until July 1963.

Political career

Westerterp became a member of 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 ...

after Gerard Veldkamp was appointed Minister of Social Affairs and Health in the

Marijnen cabinet The Marijnen cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 24 July 1963 until 14 April 1965. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous De Quay cabinet and was formed by the Christian democracy, Christian democratic Catholic People's Party ...

after the 1963 general election, taking office on 31 July 1963, 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 chairing the special parliamentary committee for Academic degrees and

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 European affairs,

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

, transport, aviation and deputy spokesperson for foreign affairs and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Westerterp was selected as 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 ...

and dual served in those positions, taking office on 8 May 1967. He also served as

Vice-President of the European Parliament There are fourteen vice-presidents of the European Parliament who sit in for the President of the European Parliament, president in presiding over the plenary of the European Parliament. Role Vice-presidents are members of the Bureau (European P ...

from 9 March 1971 until 17 August 1971. After the 1971 general election, Westerterp was appointed State Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the Biesheuvel I cabinet, taking office on 17 August 1971. The cabinet fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 and continued to serve in a

demissionary 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 ...

capacity until the first cabinet formation of 1972 when it was replaced by the caretaker Biesheuvel II cabinet, with Westerterp continuing as State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, taking office on 9 August 1972. After the 1972 general election, Westerterp returned to the House of Representatives, taking office on 7 December 1972 but he was still serving in the cabinet and because of

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another * P ...

customs in the constitutional convention of Dutch politics he could not serve a

dual mandate A dual mandate occurs when an official serves in or holds multiple public positions simultaneously. This practice is sometimes known as double jobbing in Britain, double-dipping in the United States, and ''cumul des mandats'' in France. Thus, if ...

he subsequently resigned as State Secretary of Foreign Affairs on 7 March 1973. Following the second cabinet formation of 1972 Westerterp was appointed Minister of Transport and Water Management in the

Den Uyl cabinet The Den Uyl cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. The cabinet was formed by the social democratic Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA), the Christian democratic Catholic People's Party (KV ...

, taking office on 11 May 1973. He took many measures that had a lasting positive impact on traffic safety in the Netherlands, like making seat belts and the moped helmet mandatory. He was also responsible for the decision to build the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier. The cabinet fell on 22 March 1977 after four years of tensions in the coalition and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. After the election of 1977 Westerterp again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 8 June 1977 but because of the dualism customs he resigned his seat in the House of Representatives on 8 September 1977. Following the cabinet formation of 1977, the Den Uyl cabinet was replaced by the Van Agt–Wiegel cabinet on 19 December 1977, and Westerterp was not given a cabinet post in the new cabinet and he subsequently returned to the House of Representatives following the appointment of Til Gardeniers-Berendsen as Minister of Culture, Recreation and Social Work in the new cabinet, taking office on 22 December 1977 serving as a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

. In January 1978, Westerterp was nominated as

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) and Chairman of the Board of directors of the

Amsterdam Stock Exchange Euronext Amsterdam is a stock exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (), it merged on 22 September 2000 with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext. The ...

, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives the same day he was installed as CEO and Chairman on 15 February 1978. As CEO of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange he came up with the idea of the

AEX index The AEX index, derived from Amsterdam Exchange index, is a stock market index composed of Dutch companies that trade on Euronext Amsterdam, formerly known as the ''Amsterdam Stock Exchange''. Started in 1983, the index is composed of a maximum ...

. Westerterp also became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy 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 private sector employs most of the workfo ...

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, pu ...

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

DSB Bank DSB Bank (''DSB: Dirk Scheringa Beheer'') was a Dutch bank and insurer that failed in 2009. Its loans were managed under ''Quion'' from June 2013 until June 2016 when ''Finqus'' began operating as the former DSB Bank. In 2018 ''Finqus BV'' took o ...

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Radio Netherlands (RNW; ) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services in Dutch ended on 11 May 2012. Eng ...

, DSM Company, Van Lanschot,

Atlantic Association The Atlantic Association was a minor league baseball organization that operated between 1889 and 1890 and again in 1908 in the Northeastern United States. History First Demise In each of the two seasons 4 or more teams failed to finish the season ...

Randstad NV Randstad NV, commonly known as Randstad and stylized as randstad, is a Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm headquartered in Diemen, Netherlands. Along with Adecco, the company is one of the two largest staffing firms worldwide. ...

and the Institute of International Relations Clingendael) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Public Pension Funds APB, Cadastre Agency and the Advisory Council for Foreign Affairs) and as an advocate and lobbyist for

Highway engineering Highway engineering (also known as roadway engineering and street engineering) is a professional engineering discipline branching from the civil engineering subdiscipline of transportation engineering that involves the planning, design, construct ...

improvements and

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

and as a political consultant for the

Livable Netherlands Livable Netherlands (, LN) was a Dutch political party. Pim Fortuyn began his political career in the party. History Historically there have always been parties in States Provincial (provincial legislatures) and municipal councils that were i ...

(LN) party. Westerterp was known for his abilities as a manager and a "policy wonk". Westerterp continued to comment on political affairs. Westerterp died on 8 October 2023, at the age of 92.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Drs. Th.E. (Tjerk) Westerterp
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Westerterp, Tjerk 1930 births 2023 deaths Businesspeople from Rotterdam Van Lanschot Kempen people Catholic People's Party MEPs Catholic People's Party politicians Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch technology chief executives Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch expatriates in Luxembourg Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch people of Flemish descent Dutch political consultants Dutch political writers Dutch Roman Catholics Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Livable Netherlands politicians MEPs for the Netherlands 1958–1979 Ministers of transport and water management of the Netherlands Officers of the Order of Leopold II People from Alphen-Chaam People from Middelburg, Zeeland Politicians from Rotterdam Radboud University Nijmegen alumni State secretaries for foreign affairs of the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch diplomats 20th-century Dutch journalists 20th-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch male writers Dutch MPs 1967–1971 Christian Democratic Appeal MPs