James "Jim" Leonard Janssen van Raay (1 June 1931 – 11 February 2010) was a Dutch lawyer and politician.

Biography

Van Raaij was born in 1931 in

Mentok Muntok () or, more commonly, Mentok is a town in the Indonesian province of Bangka-Belitung on the island of Sumatra. The capital of West Bangka Regency (''Bangka Barat''), it is the site of the biggest tin smelter on the world. Mentok refers to ...

, then part of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. As a teenager he was placed in a civilian internment camp run by the Japanese during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He arrived in the Netherlands in 1946 and started a career as a lawyer. In 1961 he was involved in the foundation of the

Association of Contract Players The Association of Contract Players ( nl, Vereniging van Contractspelers — VVCS) is the trade union for professional football players in the Netherlands. Established on 1 January 1961, it is a member of the Dutch Federation of Trade Unions and ...

, a union for professional football players in the Netherlands. Van Raaij died in early 2010 at the age of 77 in a hospital in The Hague.

Politics

Van Raaij became involved in the Christian Historical Union and was appointed as its national secretary. In 1980, he was a founding member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In 1979, he was elected as an MEP 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 the CDA but became an independent in 1996 due to alleged financial misdeeds. He joined the

Union for Europe The Union for Europe (UFE) was a conservative political group in the European Parliament that existed from 1995 to 1999. The group was formed during the 4th European Parliament term in July 1995 from a merger of the European Democratic Alliance a ...

group as an independent MEP and supported a number of

eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

proposals including voting against the introduction of the

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

currency. At the same time he also joined the Union 55+ party but continued to serve as an independent in the European parliament until his term ended. In 1999 he took part in the European Parliament elections with his own party, the ''European Electors Platform Netherlands'' (EVPN) but narrowly failed to win a seat. In 2002, he joined the newly created

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List ( nl, Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered populist, right-wing popul ...

and was third on the candidate list for the 2002 general election. He was elected to the House of Representatives on 15 May 2002. Van Raaij had more professional political experience than other LPF members and was vice-chairman of the standing committee for Foreign Affairs. Following Fortuyn's assassination, he attended the trial of

Volkert van der Graaf Volkert van der Graaf (born 9 July 1969) is a Dutch convicted murderer who assassinated politician Pim Fortuyn, the leader of the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) party, on 6 May 2002. Van der Graaf shot Fortuyn outside a radio studio in Hilversum shortly ...

to give a witness statement. He ran for president of the House of Representatives, but lost to

Frans Weisglas Frans Willy Weisglas (born 8 August 1946) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat and economist. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 16 May 2002 until 30 Nove ...

. He would retire from politics at the 2003 election due to disputes with new LPF leader

Mat Herben Mathieu "Mat" Herben (born 15 July 1952) is a Dutch journalist, civil servant and retired politician of the dissolved Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) party and served as leader of the LPF 2003 to 2006. In May 2002, the party of the slain populist Pim Fo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janssen van Raaij, Jim Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Christian Democratic Appeal politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians 1932 births Members of the European Parliament Pim Fortuyn List politicians Independent politicians in the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch lawyers Dutch eurosceptics 1931 births 2010 deaths