Christiaan "Chris" van Veen (19 December 1922 – 9 November 2009) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in ...

(CHU) party now merged into 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-Revolutionary ...

(CDA) party and trade association executive. Van Veen worked as a civil servant for the municipality of

Den Bommel Den Bommel is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee, and lies about 14 km south of Spijkenisse. History The village was first mentioned in 1473 as Bommele, and refers to a ...

from February 1940 until September 1945 and for the municipality of

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes th ...

from September 1945 until April 1960. Van Veen applied at the Free University Amsterdam in June 1952 majoring in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in July 1953 and graduating with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in June 1955. Van Veen worked as a civil servant for the municipality of

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; nds-nl, 't Ogeveine or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout ...

city clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a Tow ...

from April 1960 until October 1964 and for the municipality of

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

as city clerk from October 1964 until May 1967. After the election of 1967 Van Veen was appointed as State Secretary for the Interior in the Cabinet De Jong, taking office on 10 May 1967. Van Veen was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1971, taking office on 11 May 1971. Following the cabinet formation of 1971 Van Veen was appointment as Minister of Education and Sciences in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 6 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity with Van Veen taking over as Minister for Higher Education and Science Policy on 21 July 1972 until it was replaced by the

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

Cabinet Biesheuvel II with Van Veen continuing as Minister of Education and Sciences and Minister for Higher Education and Science Policy, taking office on 9 August 1972. In October 1972 Van Veen announced his retirement from national politics and that he would not stand for the election of 1972. The Cabinet Biesheuvel II was replaced by the Cabinet Den Uyl following the cabinet formation of 1972 on 11 May 1973. Van Veen semi-retired from national politics and became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

, in August 1973 Van Veen was nominated as a trade association executive for the Industry and Employers' association, serving as Vice Chairman from 1 September 1973 until 1 January 1974. In December 1974 Van Veen was nominated as Chairman of the Industry and Employers' association serving from 1 January 1974 until 1 November 1984. Van Veen was nominated as an Extraordinary Member of the Council of State, serving from 1 February 1985 until 1 January 1993. Van Veen remained active in the public sector and continued to occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (

Radio Netherlands Worldwide Radio Netherlands (RNW; nl, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep) was a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands from 1947 to 2012. Its services i ...

and the

Centre for European Policy Studies The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) is a think tank based in Brussels, Belgium that undertakes research "leading to solutions to the challenges facing Europe today". It was established in 1983. Organisation CEPS is a leading think tan ...

) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Public Pension Funds APB, Council for Culture,

SEO Economic Research SEO Amsterdam Economics'' (SEO) is a scientific institute for economic research commissioned by ministries or businesses. SEO was founded in 1949 from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abb ...

and the

Social and Economic Council The Social and Economic Council (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a Publiekrechtelijke Bedrijfsorganisatie, system of sector-based ...

) . Van Veen was known for his abilities as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and consensus builder. Van Veen continued to comment on political affairs until his death at the age of 86.

Decorations

References

External links

*
Mr. Ch. (Chris) van Veen
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Veen, Chris van 1922 births 2009 deaths Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Christian Historical Union politicians City and town clerks Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch trade association executives Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Ministers of Education of the Netherlands Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council People from Barneveld People from Goeree-Overflakkee Politicians from Groningen (city) People from Hoogeveen People from Rijswijk Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands State Secretaries for the Interior of the Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians