Marieke Koekkoek (born 26 February 1989) is a Dutch lawyer and politician for the pro-European party

Volt Netherlands Volt Netherlands (, usually simply called Volt) is a social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. It is the Dutch branch of Volt Europa, a political movement that operates on a European level. History Oprichting Volt - speech Reinier van ...

. She was elected to 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 ...

in the 2021 general election owing to the number of

preference votes In psychology, economics and philosophy, preference is a technical term usually used in relation to choosing between alternatives. For example, someone prefers A over B if they would rather choose A than B. Preferences are central to decision the ...

she received. Prior to being a member of parliament, she studied law and worked as a legal intern.

Early life and career

Koekkoek was born in the Dutch capital of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and grew up in its neighbourhood Zuidoost. After having spent a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...

in Australia and Europe, she started studying Dutch law at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

in 2008. She was a member of its study association Urios and chaired Urios's

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN or MUN, is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. At a MUN conference, students work as the representative of a count ...

Society. After her graduation in 2011, Koekkoek studied a year at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

and another year at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

, obtaining

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in International Trade and Investment Law and in International Economic Law and Policy, respectively. In October 2013, Koekkoek joined the

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, ...

's Centre for Global Governance Studies as a PhD student and researcher. She specialized in

international commercial law International Commercial Law is a body of legal rules, conventions, treaties, domestic legislation and commercial customs or usages, that governs international commercial or business transactions. A transaction will qualify to be international if e ...

and returned to the Netherlands in 2017, while she kept working at KU Leuven. Koekkoek lived in China for some time in 2019 to teach at the

China-EU School of Law The China-EU School of Law (CESL; ) at the China University of Political Science and Law is an international law school primarily located in Beijing, China. CESL was founded on the basis of an agreement between the European Community and the go ...

. She became a legal intern for

Fieldfisher Fieldfisher LLP is a multinational law firm headquartered in London. The firm has 25 offices across Europe, China and the United States (Silicon Valley). It advises national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments. ...

in Amsterdam in September 2019.

Politics

Koekkoek joined the new pro-European party Volt in 2018 after she had been a member of Democrats 66. She was involved in creating the party's European

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

and participated in the

2019 European Parliament election in the Netherlands The 2019 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the Netherlands is an election that was held on 23 May 2019. It is the ninth time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands. The number ...

as Volt's 22nd candidate. She was placed fourth on the party list in the 2021 general election and again helped write the platform. Koekkoek campaigned on LGBT rights and on immigration. She wanted the procedure for

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

s to become quicker, and she wanted them to have the right to work and to learn the Dutch language while awaiting the results of their asylum application. Even though Volt won three seats in the election, Koekkoek was elected to the

because of her 37,093

at the expense of Volt's third candidate, Ernst Boutkan. Koekkoek was one of three candidates in the 2021 election who were elected due to their preference votes. In the House, she is on the following committees: * Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality * Committee for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation * Committee for Health, Welfare and Sport * Committee for Justice and Security * Committee for Kingdom Relations * Petitions committee * Committee for Social Affairs and Employment

Personal life

Koekkoek lives in the

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

neighbourhood of

Leidsche Rijn Leidsche Rijn (, Utrecht dialect: ) is a neighbourhood in the west of Utrecht in the central Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = ...

. She has a husband from China, who came to the Netherlands to study and work, and she has two children. Koekkoek can play violin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koekkoek, Marieke 1989 births Living people 21st-century Dutch lawyers 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century women lawyers Dutch women lawyers Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Politicians from Amsterdam Utrecht University alumni Volt Europa politicians Lawyers from Amsterdam LGBT members of the Parliament of the Netherlands Bisexual politicians Politicians from Utrecht (city) KU Leuven alumni University of Amsterdam alumni University of Barcelona alumni 21st-century LGBT people