Jan Peter Balkenende

Jan Peter Balkenende is a Christian Democratic politician for the CDA, and was Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 2002 and 2010. He studied history and law at VU University Amsterdam, where he also obtained his PhD and was Extraordinary Professor in Christian Social Thought from 1993 until 2002. He began his political career in the city council of Amstelveen, a position he held between 1982 and 1998. In that year, he joined the Dutch House of Commons, becoming CDA parliamentary group leader in 2001. After having stood at the head of four cabinets, he stepped down as the party leader in 2010. Since then, he has been Professor of Governance, Institutions and Internationalisation at Erasmus University Rotterdam.