Aart Jan de Geus (born 28 July 1955) is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessman. He served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs from 2002 to 2007. [1] Then he worked as Deputy Secretary-General for the OECD. [2] From 2012 to 2019,De Geus was Chairman and CEO of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. [3] [4] Since January 2020,he has been Chairman of the Goldschmeding Foundation. [5]
De Geus began studying law at the Utrecht University while also training as a bookkeeper. He ended his training after two years in order to concentrate exclusively on his studies. He later transferred to Erasmus University Rotterdam,where the law program had a more practical orientation. [6] After receiving his Master of Laws in 1980,he did post-graduate studies in labor law at Radboud University Nijmegen. [7]
In 1980,de Geus became a lawyer for the industrial trade union of the Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond (CNV). [8] In subsequent years he rose through the organization,eventually joining the board of directors. [6] In 1988,he joined the umbrella organization of the CNV confederation and was appointed its deputy chairman in 1993. His responsibilities in this position included social security,pensions,health and employment. [7] He was also a member of the Socioeconomic Advisory Council,the Dutch government’s highest body for economic and social policy issues,one that is anchored in the constitution and whose members are appointed by the crown. [9] [10]
In 1998,De Geus became a partner at the corporate consultancy Boer &Croon in Amsterdam. [11] There he worked on projects relating to the welfare state for both public and private institutions. [9] He also joined the supervisory board of the Academic Hospital of Maastricht,the advisory council of the Association of Dutch Health Insurers,and the Council of Churches where he was responsible for social policy issues. He was also a member of the National Refugees Council. [9]
In the mid-1970s,De Geus joined the youth organization of the Dutch ARP (Anti-Revolutionary Party),a predecessor of the CDA. Through the years he held various positions in both parties. [6] In 2002,Jan Peter Balkenende appointed de Geus as minister of social affairs and employment (first Balkenende cabinet). He also served as health minister for eight months. [12] [13] He was a member of the Dutch government until 2007 (second and third Balkenende cabinets). [14] [15]
While in office,de Geus initiated comprehensive social policy reforms with the goal of making the country's social security system more sustainable and including more people in the labor market. [16] [17] For example,he restructured the public- and private-sector job referral systems. He also included local-level governments in the funding structure for social assistance programs. [7] He was considered a supporter of the country's polder model,an approach that brings together employers,trade unions and government experts to negotiate wages and working conditions. [18] Despite his earlier activities for the CNV trade union confederation,his relationship with the country's trade unions proved difficult. [6] [19] In 2004,he withstood a vote of no confidence brought by the opposition Social Democratic,Socialist and Green parties. [20] [21]
In 2007,de Geus was appointed deputy secretary-general of the OECD. [22] [23] In this role he advanced a number of causes including environmentally friendly economic growth. He also criticized the division present in the German job market,above all since it allowed young and well-trained workers to benefit to a greater degree from the country's economic upturn. [24] [25]
In 2011,the Bertelsmann Stiftung appointed de Geus to its executive board. [26] [27] In 2012,he became the board's chairman when Gunter Thielen retired. [28] The Bertelsmann Stiftung thus increased its independence from the Mohn family,owners of the Bertelsmann group. [29] [30] As chairman,de Geus launched the initiative to internationalize the foundation's activities. [31] [32] Today,de Geus is responsible for projects relating to Europe,democracy and sustainable economies as well as international megatrends and partnerships. [33]
He is responsible for projects relating to Europe,democracy and sustainable economies as well as international megatrends and partnerships. [33] He previously served as the deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). [7] From 2002 to 2007,he served under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in the Netherlands as minister of social affairs and employment. [34] He is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party. [6] Since 2012 De Geus has been a member of the advisory board of the Centre for Higher Education (CHE),in which the Bertelsmann Stiftung holds a 90-percent stake. [35] [36] In 2014,he was elected chairman of the supervisory board of the Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, [37] [38] a leading sustainability bank with offices in Belgium,Germany,the UK and Spain. [39]
| Honours | ||||
| Ribbon bar | Honour | Country | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau | Netherlands | 11 April 2007 | |
Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010.
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic and socially conservative political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union; it has participated in all but three cabinets since it became a unitary party.
Reinhard Mohn was a German billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Under his leadership, Bertelsmann, once a medium-sized printing and publishing house, established in 1835, developed into a global media conglomerate. In 1977, he founded the non-profit Bertelsmann Stiftung, which is today one of the largest foundations in Germany, with worldwide reach.
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Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and historian.
Following the 2006 Dutch general election, held on November 22, a process of cabinet formation started, involving negotiations about which coalition partners to form a common programme of policy and to divide the posts in cabinet. On February 22, 2007 it resulted in the formation of the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.
The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. As the Bertelsmann Stiftung itself has put it, the foundation promotes "reform processes" and "the principles of entrepreneurial activity" to build a "future-oriented society."
Gerritje "Gerda" Verburg is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and trade union leader
Elisabeth Mohn is a German billionaire businesswoman and philanthropist. She was married to Reinhard Mohn until his death in 2009.
Jesse Feras Klaver is a Dutch politician serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2010 and Leader of GroenLinks since 2015. Prior to this, he chaired the youth union of the Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond from 2009 to 2010.
VoorNederland was a Dutch political party. It was previously active in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands as the Group Bontes/Van Klaveren, a parliamentary group founded in April 2014. The parliamentary group was succeeded by a political party in May 2014. After failing to garner win a single seat in the 2017 general election the party disbanded.
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