Tom Vandenkendelaere (born 2 September 1984 in

Roeselare Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The ...

) is a Belgian politician who has served as 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) from 2014 until 2019 and again since 2021. He is a member of the

Christian Democratic and Flemish Christian Democratic and Flemish (, , CD&V) is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism ( ACV) and trade associations (UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party wa ...

party (CD&V), which sits in the

EPP Group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs ...

Political career

Vandenkendelaere was chairman of the CD&V youth wing from 2013 to 2014. In 2014, Vandenkendelaere succeeded

Marianne Thyssen Marianne Leonie Petrus Thyssen (; born 24 July 1956) is a Belgian politician of the Christian Democratic and Flemish Party (CD&V) who served as European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility between 2014 and 2019 ...

, who became European Commissioner. In parliament, he served on the

Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

(ECON), the "Panama Papers" Inquiry Committee (PANA) and the delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China. Since re-joining the parliament in 2021, Vandenkendelaere has been serving on the

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of th ...

, the

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) is a committee of the European Parliament. Responsibilities of the Committee AGRI is the European Parliament committee responsible for: #The operation and development of the Common Agricul ...

, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting civil liberties and human rights, as listed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. ...

and 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 ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, has been a member the parliament's delegation for relations with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and chairing the delegation to the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...

br>

Political positions

In October 2021, Vandenkendelaere initiated a nonbinding resolution in which a majority of the European Parliament denounced the “illegal arrest” and conviction of Rwandan politician

Paul Rusesabagina Paul Rusesabagina (;"Paul Rusesabagina, Rwanda's ...

and urged the EU to ramp up its efforts to secure his release.Hans von der Burchard (October 7, 2021)
MEPs ‘strongly condemn’ conviction of ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero
''

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 ...

''.

External links

Personal website

References

1984 births Living people People from Roeselare Christian Democratic and Flemish MEPs MEPs for Belgium 2014–2019 MEPs for Belgium 2019–2024 Alumni of the University of Kent {{Flanders-politician-stub