Tinne Van der Straeten (born 1 April 1978) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

politician who has been serving as Minister of Energy in the

De Croo Government The De Croo Government is the incumbent Federal Government of Belgium, led by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo since 1 October 2020. History The creation of the De Croo Government occurred on 1 October 2020, 494 days after the 2019 Belgian fed ...

since October 2020. She is a member of the

Groen Groen or de Groen is a surname of Dutch origin, meaning ''green''.

party. She previously served in the Chamber of Representatives for

Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde The area within Belgium known as Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde encompasses the bilingual— French and Dutch—Brussels-Capital Region, which coincides with the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital and the surrounding Dutch-speaking area of Halle-Vilvo ...

from 2007 to 2010 and later for

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from 2019 until 2020, when she resigned to become energy minister.

Early life and education

In 2000, Van der Straeten obtained a degree in

African Studies African studies is the study of Africa, especially the continent's cultures and societies (as opposed to its geology, geography, zoology, etc.). The field includes the study of Africa's history (pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial), demography ...

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

. Subsequently, she started working as a researcher at

Université catholique de Louvain The Université catholique de Louvain (also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It ...

. After this, she went to

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, l ...

, where she researched labour discrimination. After her studies, she joined

Agalev Groen (English: Green; nl, Groen, ), founded as Agalev (see Name below), is a green Flemish political party in Belgium. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other. Party history Before ...

and she was active in

Malle Malle () is a municipality located in the Campine region of the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Oostmalle and Westmalle. In 2021, Malle had a total population of 15,620. The total area is 51.99 km2. H ...

. In 2008, she obtained a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

at the

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish Community, Flemish gov ...

Political career

In the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

, Van der Straeten was elected a representative in the

Belgian federal parliament The Federal Parliament is the bicameral parliament of Belgium. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: Chambre des Représentants, german: Abgeordnetenkammer) and the Senate (Dutch: , french: Sénat, german: Senat). It sit ...

for the first time. Three years later, in the 2010 elections, she wasn't re-elected. In 2018, Van der Straeten re-enters the political foreground. She becomes alderman of Public Works in Koekelberg and is a candidate for the 2019 federal elections on the Ecolo list in Brussels. She was re-elected as a representative. In her second passage in the Chamber, she worked out an agreement on the capacity remuneration mechanism. Following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Van der Straeten led her party's policy shift on extending the life-span of Belgium's remaining nuclear power plants. By July 2022, she reached an agreement in principle with energy provider

Engie Engie SA is a French multinational utility company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie, which operates in the fields of energy transition, electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear, renewable energy and petroleum. ...

to extend the lifespan of two nuclear reactors — Doel 4 and Tihange 3 — by 10 years.Camille Gijs (22 July 2022)
Belgium reaches tentative deal with Engie on extending nuclear reactors
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

''.

Timeline

*10/06/2007 – 13/06/2010: Representative (constituency of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde)

References

3 questions à Tinne Van Der Straeten
''La Libre'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Der Straeten, Tinne 1978 births Living people Groen (political party) politicians Ghent University alumni Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni People from Malle 21st-century Belgian politicians 21st-century Belgian women politicians Women government ministers of Belgium Government ministers of Belgium