Frans Hubertus Henricus Weekers (born 17 October 1967) is a Dutch politician of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD) and lawyer.

Early life and education

Weekers was born in

Weert Weert (; li, Wieërt ) is a municipality and city in the southeastern Netherlands located in the western part of the province of Limburg. It lies on the Eindhoven–Maastricht railway line, and is also astride the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal. Popu ...

, in the province

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. His father was an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

and member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

. His paternal grandfather was a ''

wethouder In the Netherlands, the municipal executive (, ) is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of the mayor and the members of t ...

'' in Weert. His mother was a

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

.Mr.Drs. F.H.H. (Frans) Weekers
Parlement.com. Retrieved on 2013-05-12. Weekers attended secondary school in Weert between 1980 and 1987, where he did the vwo programme. He became a member of the VVD in 1986, while he was still in secondary school. Weekers subsequently went to 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 ...

1987, where he obtained an MSc degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

econometrics Econometrics is the application of Statistics, statistical methods to economic data in order to give Empirical evidence, empirical content to economic relationships.M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," ''The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of ...

in 1992 and an

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in 1993.

Career

Legal work

Weekers worked as a legal advisor for the assurance company Van Rey and as the assistant of the member of the

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 ...

Jos van Rey Jozef Franciscus Bernard "Jos" van Rey (; born 15 April 1945) is a Dutch businessman and politician from Roermond. He has been a member of the municipal council of Roermond for the Liberal People's Party Roermond since 2014 and a member of the S ...

in 1993 and 1994.

Politics

Weekers was an elected member of the

of Weert from 1994 to 2003, where he was the fraction leader of the VVD. From 1994, he also worked as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

in Weert, until he was elected to the

in 1998. He served as a member of the

from 19 May 1998 to 23 May 2002, a second time from 3 June 2003 until 14 October 2010 and a third time from 20 September until 5 November 2012. Weekers was State Secretary at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

in the

First Rutte cabinet The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for ...

starting 14 October 2010. On 5 November 2012, he was re-appointed in the

Second Rutte cabinet The second Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet, was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for F ...

, dealing with fiscal affairs and finances of lower governments. He resigned on 4 February 2014 and was replaced by

Eric Wiebes Eric Derk Wiebes (born 12 March 1963) is a resigned Dutch politician who served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in the Third Rutte cabinet since 26 October 2017 until 15 January 2021. He is a member of the People's Party for ...

, an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Resignation

Opposition parties have fiercely criticized his performance. According to them, Weekers had insufficient knowledge of the tax office being behind on payments, such as providing rental and care allowances to about 100,000 citizens. After Weekers heard that a motion of no confidence was imminent, he submitted his resignation on 29 January 2014.

References

External links

;Official *
Mr.Drs. F.H.H. (Frans) Weekers
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Weekers, Frans 1967 births Living people Dutch fiscal jurists Dutch prosecutors Dutch political consultants Mayors in Limburg (Netherlands) People from Beek Mayors of Heerlen Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Municipal councillors in Limburg (Netherlands) People from Weert People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians State Secretaries for Finance of the Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch lawyers 21st-century Dutch politicians