Wim van de Camp

Wilhelmus Johannes Gerardus Maria "Wim" van de Camp (born 27 July 1953) is a Dutch politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) between 2009 and 2019. He was the leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) delegation, part of the European People's Party (EPP Group), from 2009 to 2014. He was previously a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands from 1986 to 2009) where he was active in the fields of education, justice and asylum policy.

Early life and education Van de Camp was born on 27 July 1953 in Oss, Netherlands where his parents had an agricultural business. After secondary school, he went to the Higher Agricultural School of Tropical Agriculture in Deventer where he obtained his engineering degree in 1976. He continued his studies in 1982 at the University of Nijmegen where he studied Law.

Career Van de Camp started his career as a paralegal in the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG in Dutch).

Career in national politics Because of his early interest in politics, he joined the KVP-Jo, the youth association of the KVP. Between 1978 and 1981, he was President of this association. He then became Vice President of the CDJA, the youth organization of the CDA which arose in 1981 from a merger between the CSF-Jo, ARJOS and CHJO. Later, from 1981 until 1986, he was a member of the national CDA Party administration..

Van de Camp was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives from 1986 until 2009. In this function, he worked mainly on education and justice. He was also Chairman of the standing committees Home Affairs and Education, Culture and Science. In his role as MEP, he was a permanent member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and substitute member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection. From 2014 to 2019 he served on the Committee on Transport and Tourism, and was a substitute on the Budgetary Control and International Trade committees. He did not seek reelection for the 2019 European Parliament Election.

Life after politics Since July 2020, Van de Camp has been serving as a special advisor on education in emergencies, migration and inclusion to European Commissioner for Transport Adina-Ioana Vălean.

Personal life Wim van de Camp is openly gay.

Because of his experience within the Dutch House of Representatives, Wim van de Camp played a prominent role in the guidance of new Dutch Members of Parliament. The 'class of Wim' became a real concept in The Hague. He trained several generations of (CDA) politicians.

In 1998, Wim van de Camp wrote a Party manifesto on safety entitled "Providing Opportunities, Putting Boundaries'. In his text he called for, among other things, the reduction of the criminal liability age from twelve to ten.

Electoral history

+ YearBodyPartyVotesResult.Party seatsIndividual 1989 House of Representatives Christian Democratic Appeal 15 232 1994 22 451 1998 112,401 2002 242,881 2003 24 1,163 2006 24 1,097 2009 European Parliament 1 579,775 5 2014 The Hague Municipal Council 46 24 2014 European Parliament 3 5 2015 Provincial Council of South Holland 30 2019 Water board Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland 48 50 2019 Provincial Council of South Holland 49 125 2022 The Hague Municipal Council 35 24 2026 38 17 2