Erik Meijer (born 5 December 1944) is a former Dutch politician who was a member of the European Parliament for the Dutch Socialist Party, part of the European Left, between 1999 and 2009. From July 2014 till June 2015 he was a member of the Dutch Senate.
In the European Parliament he was a substitute for the Committee on Foreign Affairs and a member of the Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee.
In 1999 European Parliament elections Meijer won the first seat for the SP in the European Parliament.
Born in 1944 in Amsterdam, Meijer, who lives in Rotterdam, studied human geography and later taught geography before becoming a civil servant. Politically active since the beginning of the 1960s, including as an executive member of Socialist Youth (SJ), in the 1970s he was elected to represent the Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP) on Amsterdam City Council. During this period he led the Proletarian Left within the PSP, which later split to form what now is Socialist Alternative Politics. Meijer stayed within the PSP. From 1982 to 1995 he served as member of the States-Provincial of South Holland, having been elected on a combined PSP-CPN-PPR ticket. Following the formation of the GreenLeft, which united these tendencies, he became the party's national vice-chair, a position which he held until 1995.
At the beginning of 1996, Meijer left Green Left for the SP. In 1998 he became chair of the SP branch in Delfshaven, a poor district of Rotterdam, at the same time working to build up the party's European contacts.
In the European Parliament the SP forms part of the United Left Group (GUE-NGL). The party's priority is resistance to the development of a European Superstate too far removed from the people and too closely attached to the interests of European multinationals.
In the European elections of 10 June 2004, the SP's electoral support grew from 5% to 7%, giving the party a second seat. Re-elected, Meijer was joined by Kartika Liotard.
His comments in the Skopje daily Utrinski Vesnik on 14 January 2008 drew the ire of readers in the Republic of Macedonia. He said that the country should tear down statues of the ancient Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great erected on its territory and agree to a name change in its bilateral dispute with Greece. [1]
He was invested as a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau on 8 September 2009.[ citation needed ]
On 8 July 2014 he was made member of the Dutch Senate, replacing Arjan Vliegenthart. [2] His term ended on 9 June 2015.
GroenLinks is a green political party in the Netherlands.
The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist and social democratic political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 1971 as the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist–Leninist, the party has since moderated itself from Marxism–Leninism and Maoism towards democratic socialism and social democracy. The SP has also been described as left-wing populist, far-left and Eurosceptic, and is an advocate of Dutch republicanism.
The Greens is a political party in the Netherlands. It advocates for Green politics, an unconditional basic income and emphasises its anti-militarism.
The Pacifist Socialist Party was a democratic socialist Dutch political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is one of the predecessors of GroenLinks.
Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Member of the Council of State since 20 January 2016.
The Communist Party of the Netherlands was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party in 1991, forming the GreenLeft. Members opposed to the merger founded the New Communist Party of the Netherlands.
Joost Lagendijk is a Dutch politician who was a columnist with the Turkish dailies Zaman and Today's Zaman until these newspapers were closed by the Turkish government. From 2009 till 2012 he was a senior adviser at the Istanbul Policy Center at Sabancı University. He is a former GreenLeft (G/EFA) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and served as the joint chairman of the Turkey-EU Parliamentarians delegation.
The Socialist Alternative Politics is a Trotskyist political group in the Netherlands without parliamentary representation.
The Political Party of Radicals was a Christian-radical, progressive Christian and green political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relatively small role in Dutch politics and merged with other left-wing parties to form GreenLeft in 1991.
Bert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux is a Belgian politician and Vooruit faction leader in the Belgian Senate. He was one of the founders of Spirit. Served as Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport in the Flemish Government from 2004 until 2009, he was also Minister for relations with the Brussels-Capital Region and the Brussels Parliament.
This article gives an overview of socialism in the Netherlands, including communism and social democracy. It is limited to communist, socialist, social democratic, and democratic socialist parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme.
The Green Progressive Accord was an alliance of Dutch political parties: Political Party of Radicals (PPR), Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP), Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) and Green Party of the Netherlands (GPN).
Andrée Christine van Es is a Dutch politician. She is currently chairwoman of the Dutch national UNESCO committee. She was previously wethouder (alderman) in the executive of the city of Amsterdam for GreenLeft until 2014. She was member of the House of Representatives for the Pacifist Socialist Party and GreenLeft.
Martinus Josephus Maria "Tiny" Kox is a Dutch politician who served as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2022 until 2024. As a member of the Socialist Party (SP), he became a senator on 10 June 2003. He stepped down in February 2024, by which time he had become the longest-serving incumbent member of the Senate.
Antonius Adrianus Gerardus Maria "Ronald" van Raak is a Dutch politician, non-fiction writer and former academic. A member of the Socialist Party, he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 30 November 2006. He focuses on matters of home affairs, kingdom relations, the royal house and general affairs. From 2003 to 2006, he was a Senator of the Netherlands.
Alexander Kops is a Dutch politician and former teacher serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2017. A member of the Party for Freedom (PVV), a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. He previously was a member of the Senate from 2014 to 2017.
Hans van Hooft Sr. is a Dutch politician. After serving on the Nijmegen city council for the Socialist Party (SP) from 1976 to 2002, he was an alderman in this city until 2010.
Robert Frank Ruers is a Dutch politician and attorney. On behalf of the Socialist Party (SP) he was a member of the Senate four times and briefly a deputy of the provincial executive of Limburg.
Remi Jean Louis Poppe is a former Dutch politician and environmental activist. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002 and again from 2006 to 2010 on behalf of the Socialist Party (SP).
| Christian Democratic Appeal | |
|---|---|
| Labour Party | |
| People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | |
| GroenLinks | |
| SGP, GPV and RPF |
|
| Democrats 66 | |
| Socialist Party | |
| Christian Democratic Appeal | |
|---|---|
| Labour Party | |
| People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | |
| GroenLinks | |
| Europe Transparent | |
| Socialist Party | |
| Christian Union – Reformed Political Party | |
| Democrats 66 | |
| Independent (members who left their parties) | |
