Paul, Baron De Keersmaeker (14 July 1929 – 16 December 2022) was a Belgian businessman, politician and chairman of PA Europe.

Early life and education

De Keersmaeker was born on 14 July 1929. He obtained a PhD degree in law and a bachelor's degree of

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Career

De Keersmaeker began his professional career as manager of the family brewery De Keersmaeker N.V. in Kobbegem. From 1959 until 1985 he was mayor of Kobbegem/Asse, and from 1968 to 1992, he was a member of the Belgian Parliament. From 1974 to 1981 he was a member of 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 ...

, and from 1981 to 1992 Member of the Federal Belgian Government as Secretary of State for European Affairs and Agriculture. De Keersmaeker joined

Interbrew Interbrew is subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV is based in Breda, Netherlands. It has one subsidiary, Ambev S.A. of São Paulo, Brazil. Brands Interbrew brands have historically included Budweiser, Stella Artois, Boddingtons, Beck's, S ...

as Member of the Board in 1992, and he was appointed chairman in 1994. In addition, he was chairman of Domo,

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...

Belgilux, and WDP, and vice-chairman of Euler-Cobac and a director of

Tractebel Tractebel is a Belgian subsidiary which provides consultancy and engineering services in the energy, water, nuclear and infrastructure sectors for the ENGIE group, as well as for national and international institutions and customers in the publ ...

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

and Afinia Plastics. When his mandate as chairman of Interbrew expired in April 2001, he was appointed honorary chairman. He was also honorary chairman of

KBC Bank KBC Group is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing on private clients and small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. It was created in 1998 through the merger of Kredietbank ...

, the Federation of Food Industry and the Confederation of Belgian Brewers. Between 1992 and 1998, De Keersmaeker was chairman of the and of the Belgian Federation of Food Industry as well as Member of the Management Committee of the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium. De Keersmaeker was honorary chairman of the Canadian European Roundtable for Business, and chairman of the Foundation Europalia International. In 2002, he was awarded the Vlerick Award. De Keersmaeker was honorary chairman of the Brussels public affairs and communications company PA Europe and honorary chairman of the Public Advice International Foundation. He was succeeded by PA's current chairman, former Belgian Prime Minister

Mark Eyskens Marc Maria Frans, viscount Eyskens (born 29 April 1933), known as Mark Eyskens, is a Belgian economist, professor and politician in the Christian People's Party, now called Christian Democratic and Flemish, and briefly served as the prime minis ...

Personal life and death

De Keersmaeker died on 16 December 2022, at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Keersmaeker, Paul 1929 births 2022 deaths Barons of Belgium Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Ministers of Agriculture of Belgium MEPs for Belgium 1979–1984 Belgian businesspeople KU Leuven alumni People from Asse