Lucas Hartong (born 24 May 1963) is a Dutch politician. He served as a
member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
for the
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands.
Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
between 22 June 2010 and 1 July 2014. He was leader of the PVV delegation from 24 March to 1 July 2014.
Early life
Hartong was born on 24 May 1963 in
Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
. He went to the gymnasium in Breda and he later studied theology at
Christelijke Hogeschool Ede
The Christelijke Hogeschool Ede (in English ''Christian University of Applied Sciences'' is added to the Dutch name; abbreviation remains CHE) is a Dutch vocational university, based in Ede in the central Netherlands. The CHE has a clear Chris ...
.
Political career
Hartong unsuccessfully tried to win a seat in the municipal council with his own Democratisch Platform Nederland party. He later became a member of the board of the
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 ...
in
South Holland
South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...
.
He went on to serve as a parliamentary assistant to the Party for Freedom group in the European Parliament. On 22 June 2010 he replaced Louis Bontes, who was chosen as a Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands in the 2010 general election. Hartong was supposed to have joined the European Parliament earlier, as the Netherlands, and with it the Party for Freedom, received an extra seat when the European Parliament increased the number of seats. The judicial procedures were howevever not finished before Hartong was installed to replace Bontes. At the start of his term Hartong said he wished to represent the Christian voters in the European Parliament. He claimed that another concern of him would be fishery, he found it surprising that the Dutch had no seat in the
Committee on Fisheries
The Committee on Fisheries (PECH) is a committee of the European Parliament.
Chris Davies was the chairman (2019 – 2020) - until the United Kingdom left the European Union.
Committee mandate
PECH is the European Parliament committee respon ...
. In 2013 Hartong was critical of the European Parliament paid trips of journalist to the Parliament, with costs of around 700,000 euro in 2011. He saw a relation between pro-EU stories in the media and the paid trips.
His term ended on 1 July 2014. He served amongst others as member of the
Committee on Budgets The Committee on Budgets (BUDG) is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 41 members plus 39 substitute members. The committee's current chair is Jean Arthuis, who has held this position since 7 July 2014.European Parliament elections of 2014, citing he did not want to cooperate with "wrong figures" from parties such as the
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...