Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes | |
|---|---|
State Secretary for Transport and Water Management | |
| In office 28 December 1977 – 11 September 1981 | |
| Prime Minister | Dries van Agt |
| Preceded by | Michel van Hulten |
| Succeeded by | Jaap van der Doef |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 3 June 1986 – 14 July 1986 | |
| In office 25 August 1981 – 4 November 1982 | |
| In office 3 August 1971 – 28 December 1977 | |
| Parliamentary group | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Neelie Kroes 19 July 1941 Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Political party | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (from 1966) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Yvo Smit (born 1970) |
| Residence(s) | Wassenaar, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | Rotterdam School of Economics (BEc, M.Econ) |
| Occupation | Politician · Economist · Researcher · Businessperson · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Lobbyist |
Neelie Kroes (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈneːli ˈkrus]; born 19 July 1941) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 22 November 2004 to 1 November 2014.[1]
Kroes studied
Kroes semi-retired from active politics and became active in the
Kroes retired from active politics at the age of 73 and again became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served as a occasional diplomat for several economic delegations on behalf of the government. Following her retirement Kroes continued to be active as an advocate and lobbyist for promoting startup companies and entrepreneurship. She holds the distinction as the first female Minister of Transport starting an informal tradition of women serving as Dutch Transport Ministers that has continued since 1982 (save for two exceptions 2002–2003 and 2007–2010) for over 41 year.[2][3]
Career before politics
Neelie Kroes was born on 19 July 1941 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Her father owned the transport company Zwatra.[4]
Kroes attended a Protestant
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Local and national politics
Neelie Kroes was first elected member of the Rotterdam
In 1971, she was elected to the
Kroes refused to become Minister of Defence in 1988.
During her tenure as minister, she was involved in the so-called TCR affair, about the illegal sale of warships. She had also a business relationship with a tank cleaning company (TCR), which illegally received governmental subsidies.
After National Politics
After her ministerial career, Kroes spent two years working on two projects as an advisor to
(the Dutch railroad company).In 1991, Kroes became chairperson of
According to her husband, Bram Peper, from 1993 to 2001, Kroes relied on astrologers and clairvoyants for personal and business advice. Until 2004 Kroes maintained an office in the castle of Jan-Dirk Paarlberg, a real estate mogul who was convicted to four and a half years in prison for money-laundering and extortion. One of the astrologers advising Kroes during that time was Lenie Drent, who had been providing business advice to Paarlberg for decades.[6]
Kroes has held and still holds many side offices, mainly in cultural and social organisations. She is chairperson of Poets of all Nations, the Delta Psychiatric Hospital and of the board of the
European Commission
Commissioner for Competition
In 2004, Kroes was appointed the
As chairperson of
Kroes attended conferences organized by the
In 2009, she was transferred to another European Commissioner post, namely ICT and Telecom. She was also appointed as one of the vice-presidents of the European Commission.
Commissioner for Digital Agenda
In 2010, she became
The Digital Agenda for Europe
Since 2010, she has served as a Commissioner for the
In 2010, it was suggested that she would become
In December 2011, Kroes invited Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg who had resigned as German Minister of Defence in March 2011, due to plagiarism charges – as advisor to the European Commission as part of its No Disconnect Strategy designed to promote Internet freedom.[12]
In November 2012, Kroes made international news when she said her advisers at the
Later career
Kroes is currently leading StartupDelta, a public-private initiative to help promote the
In addition, Kroes has been holding a variety of paid and unpaid positions.
Controversy
At the end of the 1980s, intensive research into environmental crime among chemical waste processing companies ended in a fiasco.[16] As Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Kroes had conceived the plan to provide subsidies to the companies TCA and TCR (Tanker Cleaning Amsterdam and Rotterdam, respectively). Even though she was made aware of the company's criminal activities, including mixing chemical waste into fuel oil, she pushed through with the subsidies. The resulting TCR affair sparked a parliamentary inquiry in 1997. Kroes was accused by the investigative committee that she had helped a rogue company with a government subsidy into the saddle, which made the environmental crimes possible.
In the mid-1990s, Kroes was involved in the frigate affair: the failed purchase of six Dutch frigates (amounting to 1.2 billion euros) by the United Arab Emirates. As chairman of a consortium of Holland Signaal, Ballast Nedam and Koninklijke Schelde (supported by the navy, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs), Kroes attempted to exchange the frigates for oil supplies. When it turned out that she was also using her chairmanship to serve the business interests of a personal friend, the businessman Joop van Caldenborgh, she was removed from her position by the government.[17] It was only in 2011 that it became known that she had also put Prince Bernhard forward as a lobbyist in this deal, in violation of the agreements that Bernhard had made with the Den Uyl cabinet after the Lockheed affair. The frigate affair brought Kroes into contact with Jordanian investor Amin Badr-El-Din, with whom she would run the company Mint Holdings some years later, which was planning to take over part of Enron.[18]
In 2016, leaks to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (who also oversaw the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers leaks) revealed that from 2001 to 2009 Kroes was the director of Mint Holdings, a company registered in the Bahamas.[19][20][21] As part of the EU rules, a commissioner is obliged to declare previous and current economic interests, but she did not declare her directorship of the Bahamas company.[19][20] Further, EU commissioners are not allowed to hold outside directorships while in office (Kroes was in office 2004–2014).[19][21] According to her lawyer, Kroes acknowledged the situation, calling it an "oversight", and declared that she would take full responsibility.[19]
The “Uber files”, leaked documents in 2022, revealing active and irregular efforts of Uber in lobbying regulators, revealed that Kroes prepared her appointment at the taxi company when she was still in office. She did not disclose the numerous appointments she had with firms executives when European Commissioner for competition and then new technologies (a position she held until November 2014). After resigning from the European Commission, she actively helped Uber bending regulations by opening her contacts to the company, including Netherlands then Prime Minister Mark Rutte, breaking her 18-months duty of réserve that ex commissionner must apply. She finally joins Uber Public Affairs team in 2016.[22]
Personal life
Kroes was married to social democratic minister and mayor Bram Peper. She is a confidant of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, known for her criticism of Islam and having a fatwa issued, and persuaded her to switch allegiance from the social democratic PvdA to the VVD.
Corporate boards
- Salesforce, Non-Executive Board Board of Directors (since 2016)[25]
Non-profit organizations
- Open Data Institute, Non-Executive Member of the Board (since 2015)[26]
Recognition
Awards
Kroes was International Road Federation Man of the Year of 1993.
Kroes made the
59 in 2007.Decorations
| Honours | ||||
| Ribbon bar | Honour | Country | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
_-_Ribbon_bar.svg){kind=small}
|
Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion | Netherlands | 26 October 1981 | |
|
Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown | Belgium | 1 May 2008 | |
|
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau | Netherlands | 19 November 2015 | Elevated from Grand Officer (20 November 1989) |
Honorary degrees
| Honorary degrees | ||||
| University | Field | Country | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Hull | Economics | England | 1989 | |
| Open University | Political science | Netherlands | 26 September 2014 | |
References
- ^ (in Dutch) Neelie Kroes erelid VVD, Telegraaf, 29 November 2014
- ^ (in Dutch) Dit wil Neelie Kroes in haar laatste jaar als startup-ambassadeur, Sprout.nl, 2 September 2015
- ^ (in Dutch) Neelie Kroes adviseur van Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Telegraaf, 18 March 2015
- ^ (in Dutch) Drs. N. Kroes. Parlement & Politiek. Retrieved on 2010-03-02.
- European Voice.
- ^ http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/2437064/2011/05/25/Bram-Peper-Astrologe-adviseerde-Neelie-Kroes.dhtml.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Secretive Bilderberg over but was world domination discussed?". Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
- ^ "Meeting 2010 Participants - Bilderberg Meetings". bilderbergmeetings.org. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - A Digital Agenda for Europe". European Commission. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
- ^ "Digital Agenda for Europe - A Europe 2020 Initiative" (PDF). Digital Agenda for Europe. 1 October 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- ^ "Commissionners". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ "Digital Agenda: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg invited by Kroes to promote internet freedom". European Commission. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ "Internet security conference hacked". 3 News NZ. 13 November 2012.
- ^ "StartupDelta". startupdelta.org. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ^ Eline Schaart (12 March 2019) Former Commissioner Neelie Kroes running in European election Politico Europe.
- ^ "Beerput Nederland". 4 December 2017.
- ^ Dohmen, Joep (27 September 2004). "De belangen van een 'onbezoldigd kaasmeisje'". NRC.
- ^ "De Arabische connectie van Neelie Kroes". 21 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Ex-EU commissioner Neelie Kroes failed to declare directorship of offshore firm". The Guardian. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Neelie Kroes under fire after leak reveals offshore business". Politico. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Bahamas leak shines spotlight on Neelie Kroes". Financial Times. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
- ^ "« Uber Files » : les liaisons dangereuses entre Uber et la commissaire européenne Neelie Kroes". Le Monde.fr (in French). 12 July 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ "Announcing Uber's Public Policy Advisory Board". Medium. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ^ Leslie Hook and Richard Waters (4 May 2016), Uber picks up Neelie Kroes to navigate policy roadblocks Financial Times.
- ^ "Neelie Kroes | Startup Fest Europe". Startup Fest Europe. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ^ "Global data leader and former European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes joins ODI Board". theODI.org. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "#53 Neelie Kroes". The 100 Most Powerful Women. Forbes. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. 27 August 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2008.
External links
- Digital Agenda (2010–2014), Vice-President of the European Commission(2010–2014)
- Official
- (in Dutch) Dr. N. (Neelie) Kroes Parlement & Politiek
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