Hans van den Broek

His Excellency Hans van den Broek
Hans van den Broek in 1983
European Commissioner for External Relations, Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy
In office 25 January 1995 – 16 September 1999
President	Jacques Santer (1995–1999) Manuel Marín (1999)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Chris Patten
European Commissioner for External Relations and Enlargement
In office 6 January 1993 – 25 January 1995
President	Jacques Delors
Preceded by	Frans Andriessen
Succeeded by	Leon Brittan
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 4 November 1982 – 3 January 1993
Prime Minister	Ruud Lubbers
Preceded by	Dries van Agt
Succeeded by	Pieter Kooijmans
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
In office 11 September 1981 – 4 November 1982
Prime Minister	Dries van Agt
Preceded by	Durk van der Mei
Succeeded by	Wim van Eekelen
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 14 September 1989 – 7 November 1989
In office 3 June 1986 – 14 July 1986
In office 16 September 1982 – 4 November 1982
In office 12 October 1976 – 11 September 1981
Parliamentary group	Christian Democratic Appeal (1980–1989) Catholic People's Party (1976–1980)
Personal details
Born	Henri van den Broek (1936-12-11) 11 December 1936 (age 88) Paris, France
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal (from 1980)
Other political affiliations	Catholic People's Party (until 1980)
Spouse	Josée van Schendel ​ (m. 1966)​
Children	Princess Marilène (born 1970) 1 other daughter
Relatives	Prince Maurits (son in law) Princess Margriet (son-in-law's mother)
Residence(s)	Lochem, Netherlands
Alma mater	Utrecht University (Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws)
Occupation	Politician · Diplomat · Jurist · Lawyer · Businessman · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Academic administrator · Media administrator · Lobbyist · Activist
Military service
Allegiance	Netherlands
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Army
Years of service	1957–1959 (Conscription) 1959–1966 (Reserve)
Rank	Captain
Unit	Regiment Huzaren van Boreel

Henri "Hans" van den Broek (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦɑ̃ːri ˈɦɑns fɑn dɛm ˈbruk] ^ⓘ;^[1] born 11 December 1936) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 25 February 2005.

Van den Broek worked as a lawyer for law firm Blom & Dutilh in Rotterdam from 1965 until 1968 and as a corporate director at the synthetic fiber company ENKA from 1968 until 1976. Van den Broek became a Member of the House of Representatives after the resignation of Theo van Schaik, he served in the House of Representatives from 12 October 1976 until 11 September 1981. After the election of 1981 Van den Broek was appointed as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in the Cabinet Van Agt II, taking office on 11 September 1981. The Cabinet Van Agt II fell just seven months into its term on 12 May 1982 and the following cabinet formation resulted in the formation of the caretaker Cabinet Van Agt III with Van den Broek continuing as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, taking office on 29 May 1982. After the election of 1982 Van den Broek returned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 16 September 1982. The following cabinet formation resulted in the formation of the Cabinet Lubbers I with Van den Broek appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking office on 4 November 1982. After the election of 1986 Van den Broek again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 3 June 1986. The following cabinet formation resulted in a continuing coalition to form a Cabinet Lubbers II with Van den Broek continuing as Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking office on 14 July 1986. Following the election of 1989 Van den Broek again returned as a Member of the House of Representatives on 14 September 1989. The following cabinet formation resulted in the formation of the Cabinet Lubbers III with Van den Broek again continuing to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking office on 7 November 1989.

In November 1992 Van den Broek was nominated as the next European Commissioner from the Netherlands in the Third Delors Commission. Van den Broek was giving the heavy portfolios of External Relations and Enlargement. He resigned as a Minister of Foreign Affairs on 3 January 1993 and the Third Delors Commission was installed on 6 January 1993. He continued to serve in the Santer Commission and keept the portfolios of External Relations and Enlargement and got the additional portfolio of Neighbourhood Policy, serving from 25 January 1995 until 16 September 1999.

Following the end of his active political career Van den Broek occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director for supervisory boards in the business and industry world and several international non-governmental organizations (Institute of International Relations Clingendael, Carnegie Foundation, Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the Schiphol Group) and as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for European integration, human rights and nuclear disarmament.

Van den Broek is known for his abilities as a negotiator and debater. Van den Broek continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his retirement in 2010. His youngest daughter Marilène is married to Prince Maurits.

Henri van den Broek was born on 11 December 1936 in Paris in France. His father was Hendrik Johannes van den Broek and his mother was Maria Alberta Antonia Roest.^[2]

Van den Broek went to the Roman Catholic secondary school Lyceum voor het Gooi in Hilversum. He studied Dutch law at Utrecht University in Utrecht, where he received his master's degree (Master of Law) in 1965.^[2]

Van den Broek began his career as a lawyer. He joined the Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP) and was member of the municipal council of Rheden between 1970 and 1974. Between 1976 and 1981 he was member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, as representative of the KVP and later of the Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA). He was Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs in the governments of Ruud Lubbers three times and in 1991 was one of the EU negotiators of the Brioni Agreement, which ended the ten-day war in Slovenia. Major aspects of his time in office included massive demonstration in The Hague (1983) against the planned installation in the Netherlands of nuclear-armed U.S. cruise missiles (which was cancelled after all due to arms reduction talks between the US and the Soviet Union). On 6 January 1993 he became a member of the European Commission, once again with responsibility for foreign relations, especially the Enlargement of the European Union. He remained in that post until March 1999, when he retired from European politics.

On 25 February 2005, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.^[2]

Van den Broek is president of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael) and also of Radio Netherlands. He is a Member of the Board of Advisors of the Global Panel Foundation, a respected NGO that works behind the scenes in crisis areas around the world.^[3]

He is a signatory of Global Zero (campaign), a non-profit international initiative for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide.^[4]

Van den Broek is married with Josee van den Broek-van Schendel.^{[citation needed]} They have two daughters, one of whom is Princess Marilène, the wife of Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven and as such a member of the Dutch royal family.^{[citation needed]}

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre	Holy See	1981
	Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour	France	6 February 1984
	Grand Cross of the Order of Merit	Germany	12 October 1984
	Grand Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown	Luxembourg	30 May 1985
	Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II	Belgium	15 September 1986
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic	Spain	17 September 1987
	Grand Cross of the Order of Merit	Portugal	2 October 1989
	Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic	Austria	1989
	Gold Cross of the Order for Loyalty and Merit	Netherlands	1990
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	30 April 1993
	Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit	France	1999
	Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	25 February 2005
	Commander of the Order of Merit	Poland	10 August 2014
Honorific Titles
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Minister of State	Netherlands	25 February 2005	Style of Excellency

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