Derk Jan Eppink (born 7 November 1958) is a Dutch

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, politician in the Netherlands, and former cabinet secretary for

European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

s Bolkestein (1999–2004) and

Kallas Kallas is a common Estonian surname (meaning shore), and may refer to: *Aino Kallas (1878–1956), Finnish-Estonian writer *, Estonian poet and journalist * Kaja Kallas (born 1977), Estonian politician *Karol Kallas (born 1972), Estonian art ...

(2004–2007). In 2009, he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

for

List Dedecker Libertarian, Direct, Democratic ( nl, Libertair, Direct, Democratisch; LDD) is a conservative-liberal, libertarian, right-wing populist Flemish political party in Belgium. The party surprised commentators by winning five seats in the Chamber an ...

, and in 2019 for

Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections i ...

. In 2021, he became an MP in the Dutch

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

for the

JA21 JA21 (, backronym for Juiste Antwoord 2021, or 'Right Answer 2021') is a political party in the Netherlands, currently active in the Senate as the Nanninga Group (). It was founded in December 2020 by Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga after le ...

party. He sits on the

European Conservatives and Reformists Group Executive The European Conservatives and Reformists Group Executive comprises the governing council of the major conservative grouping in the European Parliament. They are responsible for policy and internal governance decision-making, and are constituted o ...

. Eppink was born in

Steenderen Steenderen is a former municipality and a village in the eastern Netherlands. It has been part of the new municipality of Bronckhorst since 2005. History It was first mentioned in 1046 as Stenere, and means "stone buildings on a sandy ridge". I ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. He studied Dutch law at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

(1977–1981) and thereafter European law and International Politics at the University of Amsterdam. In 1984 he moved to Brussels to become trainee at the European Commission. Thereafter he worked for 3 years as assistant to Members of the European Parliament. In 1987, Derk Jan Eppink joined the Dutch newspaper ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'' where he was assigned to the foreign desk. He covered

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, worked as correspondent in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and became political editor reporting on Dutch politics in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. In 1995, he moved to the Flemish newspaper ''

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

'' where he reported on Belgian politics. He wrote two books on his experiences in Belgian politics: ''Vreemde Buren'' (Odd neighbors), ''Avonturen van een Nederbelg'' (Adventures of a ). In October 1999, he started working as member of cabinet of Dutch European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein. He was Bolkestein’s liaison with the European Parliament, speechwriter and also assigned to liberalization of postal markets. In 2004, in co-operation with Bolkestein, he published the book ''

The Limits of Europe ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. In October 2004 Eppink joined the cabinet of Siim Kallas, European Commissioner from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, responsible for administration, audit and anti-fraud. In March 2007 Eppink published his book ''Life of a European Mandarin'' describing his experiences in the European Commission. A lecture he gave about this subject and about the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

in general, at the Roosevelt Academy on 14 November 2007. The book has been published in Dutch, French, English, Estonian, and Czech. In 2007 Eppink moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as his wife worked for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. He reported on the 2008 American presidential election for Flemish magazines

Knack Knack or The Knack may refer to: Music and entertainment * The Knack, an American pop-rock band famous for their hit "My Sharona" * The Knack (1960s US band), an American garage rock band active in the 1960s * The Knack (UK band), a British freakb ...

and Trends. He wrote a column on foreign affairs for Dutch weekly

Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', th ...

and is contributor to various Dutch and Flemish radio and television programs, like VRT, , NOS ''Met het Oog op Morgen'', RTL ''Business Class''. He wrote in 2011-2012 a column for

and since 2013 he writes for

De Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

. His speeches on video can be retrieved through the

Roosevelt Academy University College Roosevelt (UCR), formerly known as Roosevelt Academy (RA), is a small, honors undergraduate liberal arts and science college located in Middelburg in the Netherlands and the sole university in Zeeland. It offers a residentia ...

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

, the

University of Maastricht Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities. In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...

, the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

and Mississippi National Public Radio. In January 2007, Eppink received the 2006 Prize of Liberty from the Flemish libertarian think tank

Nova Civitas Nova Civitas was a Flemish think tank based on the principles of classic liberalism in combination with Anglo-Saxon conservatism. Nova Civitas claimed at its founding to be completely independent, although it was recognized and supported by the Fl ...

. In 2009, Eppink returned to Belgium to run for the

for the List Dedecker party. He shares similar views to the party's leader

Jean-Marie Dedecker Jean-Marie Louis Dedecker (born 13 June 1952) is a Belgian politician. In 1999 and 2003, Dedecker was directly elected to the Belgian Senate for the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD). In 2004 Dedecker ran for a seat in the Flemish Parliament ...

. In an article in November 2013, Eppink made the point that fiscal consolidation in Ireland had worked well, and that the breakdown in Greece could not be blamed on so-called 'austerity'. Not re-elected in 2014, in July 2019 he was elected a member of the European Parliament for the Dutch right wing party

(FvD). In 2020, Eppink, along with the FvD's two other MEPs, resigned to sit as an independent following a series of controversies within the party, which included FvD leader

Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch far-right politician, author and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and has been a member of the House of Representativ ...

allegedly making antisemitic statements. He subsequently joined the

party and in 2021 was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives for the party.Baudet faces task of rebuilding Dutch far-right party after reelection

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

, 7 December 2020 Eppink signed the ''

Madrid Charter The ''Madrid Charter: In Defense of Freedom and Democracy in the Iberosphere'' ( Spanish: ''Carta de Madrid: en defensa de la libertad y la democracia en la Iberosfera''), also known as the ''Letter from Madrid'', was a manifesto created on 26 O ...

'', a document drafted by the

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

Spanish party Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of

Ibero-America Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese are predominant languages (usually form ...

involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eppink, Derk Jan 1958 births Living people Belgian libertarians Dutch civil servants Dutch libertarians Dutch newspaper editors Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch political journalists Dutch reporters and correspondents European civil servants Forum for Democracy MEPs JA21 politicians Libertair, Direct, Democratisch MEPs Magazine writers Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) MEPs for Belgium 2009–2014 MEPs for the Netherlands 2019–2024 People from Bronckhorst Signers of the Madrid Charter