Cees Veerman
Encyclopedia
Cornelis Pieter Veerman (born March 8, 1949) is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

. He served as Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (Netherlands)
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality was formerly the ministry of agriculture of the Netherlands...

 from July 22, 2002 until February 22, 2007.

Early life

Veerman attended Erasmus University
Erasmus University
Erasmus University Rotterdam is a university in the Netherlands, located in Rotterdam. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th century humanist and theologian...

 in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

, then went on to attain a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 degree of economic science at Wageningen University
Wageningen University
Wageningen University and Research Centre is a Dutch public university in Wageningen, The Netherlands. It consists of Wageningen University, the Van Hall-Larenstein School of Higher Professional Education, and the former agricultural research institutes of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture...

 in 1983.

After attaining his degree, Veerman taught economics at a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

. In 1989 he taught agricultural business economics and sociology at Tilburg University. A year later, Veerman became a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of agribusiness at his alma-mater, Erasmus University, then in 1997, became chairman of the board of management at Wageningen University.

Politics

Veerman served as the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality for the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 in the third and fourth cabinet Balkenende. He was also President of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers. Some of the key issues he was focused on include the relationship between agriculture and society (especially combating poverty), the relationship between farming and nature, and reforms for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy
Common Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....

 (CAP), which includes the feud over European farm aid. He is very influential in international environmental affairs. He was succeeded by Gerda Verburg
Gerda Verburg
Gerritje Verburg is a Dutch diplomat and former politician and trade union leader. Since July 1, 2011 she is Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, succeeding former CDA politician Agnes van Ardenne...

 on February 22, 2007.

Trivia

Veerman has sat as a member on various supervisory boards throughout his career. Some of these boards include the National Cooperative Council for Agricultural and Horticulture, the board of the Horticultural Auction Association, the DLO Agricultural Economics Research Institute, the Moret, Ernst & Young advisory board, the Nieuw-Beijerland municipal council for the Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA), and the Social and Economic Council.

External links

Parlement.com biography
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