Frederik Johannes "René" Paas (; born 16 September 1966) is a Dutch politician of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

. He was chairman of the

Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond The Christian National Trade Union Federation ( nl, Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV) is a federation of trade unions of the Netherlands. History The CNV was founded on 13 May 1909, in Arnhem as a federation of several Christian unions. It w ...

from 2005 to 2009. He has been the King's Commissioner in the province of Groningen since 18 April 2016.

Early life

Frederik Johannes Paas was born on 16 September 1966 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 ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

.Mr.Drs. F.J. (René) Paas
(in Dutch), ''Parlement & Politiek'', 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016. He lived in

Veendam Veendam () is a town and municipality with a population of 27,752 in the province of Groningen in the northeast of the Netherlands. Veendam was established in 1648 as a peat colony by Adriaan Geerts Wildervanck. A Holland America Line cruise ship ...

and

Nieuwe Pekela Nieuwe Pekela ( Gronings: ''Nij Pekel'') is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Pekela, about 7 km southeast of Veendam. The village started as a peat colony, and was named after the river Pekel ...

during his youth.Vrouw stuurt nieuwe CdK René Paas eerst op kamers
(in Dutch), ''

RTV Noord RTV Noord is a regional radio and television public broadcaster in Groningen, Netherlands. , its radio programs are broadcast on FM 97.5 MHz. It broadcasts TV and radio programming 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Some content is broadcas ...

'', 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016. He later moved to Groningen, where he studied Dutch law and public administration at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

from 1984 to 1991.Commissaris van de koning – René Paas
(in Dutch),

. Retrieved 16 June 2016.Paas commissaris van de koning in Groningen
(in Dutch), ''

Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). ''T ...

'', 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016. During his studies, he was an active member of the Christian Democratic Youth Appeal (CDJA), the youth organisation of the political party

(CDA).

Career

René Paas was a member of the Groningen

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

for the

(CDA) from 1990 to 1996 and an alderman (''

wethouder In the Netherlands, the municipal executive (, ) is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of the mayor and the members of ...

'') from 1996 to 2005. Paas was chairman of the

(National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands) from 2005 to 2009. He has been chairman of Divosa, an association for managers in the social domain, since 2009. Paas has been the King's Commissioner in the province of Groningen since 18 April 2016.

Personal life

René Paas is married to

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

minister and CDA party chair

Ruth Peetoom Gerhardine Ruth Peetoom (born 25 July 1967) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). She is the Party Chair of the Christian Democratic Appeal since 2 April 2011. Biography Peetoom is born in the province of North Braba ...

.Drs. G.R. (Ruth) Peetoom
(in Dutch), ''Parlement & Politiek''. Retrieved 12 June 2016. They have three children and live in

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paas, Rene 1966 births Aldermen of Groningen Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch trade union leaders King's and Queen's Commissioners of Groningen Living people Municipal councillors of Groningen (city) People from Dordrecht University of Groningen alumni