Maria Johanna Theodora Martens (born 8 January 1955 in

Doetinchem Doetinchem (; Low Saxon: ) is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands. It is situated along the Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) river in a part of the province of Gelderland called the Achterhoek. The municipality had a population of in ...

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 ...

) is a Dutch politician. She is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal. From 2011 until 2019 she was a member of the Dutch Senate. From 1999 to 2009 she was 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 ...

(MEP). There she was a member of the bureau of the EPP-ED group in the European Parliament and sat on 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 ...

's Committee on Development. She was also a substitute for the

Subcommittee on Security and Defence The Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. It is responsible for European security and defence policy, including institutions, capabilities and operations, as we ...

and a member of the delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Career

* Higher degree in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

(1984) * NIMA (Netherlands Marketing Institute) A and B diplomas * Lecturer in Life Philosophy (1984) * Foreign Affairs Secretary, Netherlands Mission Council (1984–1988) * Study secretary, VKMO (Association of Catholic Social Organisations) (1988–1999) * Chairwoman, Nijmegen CDA * Member of the party council * Member of the editorial team of CD Verkenningen * Chairwoman, European Forum of National Committees of the Laity (1996–2000) * Chairwoman, Netherlands Episcopal Committee for the year 2000 (1996–2000) * Member of the governing board of the Catholic Theological University, Utrecht (since 1998) * Commissioner for recreation in the Veluwe area (RGV) * Member of the executive board of the World Population Fund (WPF) * Member of the European Parliament (since 1999)

References

*
Parlement.com biography

External links

Official website

European Parliament biography
*

1955 births Living people People from Doetinchem Christian Democratic Appeal MEPs Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch Roman Catholics Dutch women in politics Members of the Senate (Netherlands) MEPs for the Netherlands 1999–2004 MEPs for the Netherlands 2004–2009 20th-century women MEPs for the Netherlands 21st-century women MEPs for the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians {{Netherlands-MEP-stub