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Wouter Koolmees (born 20 March 1977) is a Dutch economist and politician and 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 who served as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the
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 ...
from 2017 to 2022. He also served as second
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands The deputy prime minister of the Netherlands ( or ) is the official Deputy prime minister, deputy of the head of government of the Netherlands. In the absence of the prime minister of the Netherlands the deputy prime minister takes over his fun ...
from 2019 to 2020 during
Kajsa Ollongren Jkvr. Karin Hildur "Kajsa" Ollongren (; ; born 28 May 1967) is a Dutch-Swedish politician who served as Minister of Defence from 10 January 2022 to 2 July 2024. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66), she previously served as Minister of the Inter ...
's medical leave of absence. He is also the CEO of
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...
.


Early life and education

Koolmees studied economics 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 ...
.


Career in the civil service

Before entering politics, he worked for several employers, including as a civil servant at the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
.


Career in national politics

Koolmees was 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 ...
from 17 June 2010 until his ministerial appointment on 26 October 2017; as a parliamentarian, he focused on matters of finance, transport and water supply. Following the 2017 general election, Koolmees represented his party's interests alongside then-party leader
Alexander Pechtold Alexander Pechtold (born 16 December 1965) is a Dutch politician and art historian. He is a member of Democrats 66. Pechtold studied Archaeology and History of Dutch Art at Leiden University, and obtained a Master of Arts degree. Pechtold work ...
at the negotiating table with the
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) to form
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 ...
's third cabinet. On 26 October 2017, he assumed office as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, succeeding Lodewijk Asscher. Following the 2021 national elections, Koolmees and Tamara van Ark of the VVD were chosen to lead their parties' negotiations on a
coalition agreement A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...
.Eline Schaart and William Adkins (March 25, 202)
Coronavirus outbreak, resignations interrupt Dutch coalition talks
''
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. W. (Wouter) Koolmees
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Koolmees, Wouter 1977 births Living people Democrats 66 politicians Deputy prime ministers of the Netherlands Dutch accountants Dutch financial analysts Dutch chief executives in the rail transport industry Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Ministers of social affairs of the Netherlands People from Capelle aan den IJssel Politicians from Rotterdam Utrecht University alumni 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch economists