Tjeerd de Groot

In this Dutch name, the surname is de Groot, not Groot.

• Politician

Tjeerd de Groot
De Groot in 2017
Member of the Dutch House of Representatives
In office 12 December 2023 –28 March 2024

Tjeerd Cornelis de Groot (born 10 April 1968) is a Dutch politician for D66. He served as a member of the House of Representatives between March 2017 and March 2024. Starting in March 2021, he was responsible for the portfolios of agriculture, nature, fisheries, food, animal welfare, water and shipping.

Early life and education

De Groot studied public administration at Leiden University. As a student assistant to Jouke de Vries, he and De Vries evaluated the General Inspection Service in 1990 in response to fishing fraud. ^[1] In 1997 he obtained his PhD in Leiden on the 'EU negotiations on reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy'.

Career

From 1997 De Groot made a career at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries and was a policy officer, political advisor to Minister Laurens Jan Brinkhorst in 2000 and MT member of the International Affairs Directorate from 2002 to 2005. From 2005 to 2009, De Groot worked at the Dutch embassy in Berlin as an agricultural councilor. He subsequently served as deputy director of international affairs at the ministry until mid-2010. He was also a lobbyist for the Dutch Dairy Organization (NZO). ^[1]

He was director of the NZO until he was installed as a member of the House of Representatives on 23 March 2017. ^{[2] [3]}

In September 2019, De Groot proposed halving the Dutch livestock population as a solution to the problems that arose after the Nitrogen Approach Program (PAS) was declared invalid. D66 stated that it wanted to "combat nitrogen emissions and make housing construction possible." ^[4] These statements prompted a large protest by thousands of farmers on the Malieveld on 1 October 2019. ^[5]

On 7 December 2022, De Groot was in the news because he called Ongehoord Nieuws reporter Jonathan Krispijn, who makes programs for the Dutch Public Broadcasting organization, a fascist. On 8 December 2022, De Groot took back his words in a message on X, then Twitter. He made no public apology. ^[6]

He unsuccessfully ran for re-election in November 2023, and his term ended on 5 December. However, he was again sworn into the House on 12 December to temporarily replace Ilana Rooderkerk during her maternity leave. He served as D66's spokesperson for agriculture, nature, water, climate, and energy. ^[7] Rooderkerk returned on 29 March 2024. ^[8]

Personal life

De Groot lives with his girlfriend and has children from a previous relationship. ^[1] He can speak West Frisian. ^[9]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Tjeerd de Groot

Year	Body	Party		Pos.	Votes	Result		Ref.
						Party seats	Individual
2017	House of Representatives		Democrats 66	19	1,825	19	Won	[10]
2021	House of Representatives		Democrats 66	8	4,856	24	Won	[11]
2023	House of Representatives		Democrats 66	10	4,739	9	Lost [a]	[12]

Notes

1. De Groot was appointed to the body later during the term due to a vacancy.

References

1. De Haan, Marko (23 June 2023). "Ongeduldige ex-zuivellobbyist die de veestapel – liefst vandaag nog – wil halveren". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2023.
2. "Dr. T.C. (Tjeerd) de Groot". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2023.
3. "Tjeerd de Groot nieuwe directeur NZO". Evmi (in Dutch). 6 July 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
4. Winterman, Peter (9 September 2019). "D66 wil veestapel halveren: drastische afname stikstofuitstoot". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2023.
5. "Waarom protesteren boeren in Den Haag?". NRC (in Dutch). 30 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
6. De Vries, Harmke (25 April 2023). "D66-kamerlid (voorlopig) niet gestraft nadat hij ON!-verslaggever voor fascist uitmaakt" (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 September 2023.
7. "Verdeling van portefeuilles Tweede Kamerfractie" [Portfolio allocation House of Representatives group]. Democrats 66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 March 2024.
8. "Kiesraad benoemt vier Tweede Kamerleden" [Electoral Council appoints four members of parliament]. Electoral Council (Press release) (in Dutch). 11 December 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
9. Ybema, Jan (1 June 2021). "Romke de Jong en Tjeerd de Groot (D66) gaan hun collega-Kamerleden Fries leren in een wekelijks filmpje op Twitter". Friesch Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 October 2023.
10. "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2017 (getekend exemplaar)" [Results House of Representatives 2017 (signed example)](PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 21 March 2017. pp. 114–115. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
11. "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021](PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 62–100, 188–189. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
12. "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023](PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 19–20. Retrieved 21 December 2023.