Tuesday

21st Mar 2023

Dutch Liberal loses out on committee post for being too pro-EU

  • Rene Leegte, until Thursday deputy chairperson of the European affairs committee in the Netherlands. (Photo: Sebastiaan ter Burg)

The Dutch Liberal party has nominated a relative EU novice to chair the European affairs committee in the lower house of the Dutch parliament, abandoning a more experienced candidate who is said to be too pro-European for the cente-right party.

Liberal Malik Azmani, the party's spokesperson on immigration, asylum and integration was elected Thursday afternoon (13 November) as chairperson of the committee.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The post became vacant after Christian-Democrat Raymond Knops decided to step down.

Political parties arrange among themselves which party chairs what committee.

According to Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, Knops had wanted Liberal Rene Leegte to succeed him, who until Thursday was the committee's deputy chairman.

It was agreed the two political parties would switch: the Liberals would get the committee's chair, the Christian-Democrats the deputy chair.

However, on Saturday NRC Handelsblad reported that the Liberal party would rather nominate Azmani, because Leegte was too pro-European.

Because of the switch, Leegte not only missed his party's endorsement for the position of chairman, he also lost his deputy chairmanship.

When it came to the vote, Azmani received only six of the twelve votes. Four went to Leegte and there were two abstentions.

In comparison, the new deputy chairperson, who was also elected Thursday afternoon, received all twelve votes.

After Knops handed over the gavel to Azmani, the new chairperson remarked: “I am very happy that a majority of this committee has confidence in me as chairperson. I will prove that that confidence will not be damaged.”

The Liberal party, to which prime minister Mark Rutte belongs, is much more critical of European integration than their coalition party Labour.

Paul Weber, spokesperson for the Liberals in the lower house, would not comment on why Azmani was chosen over Leegte, because it is an "internal matter".

A socialist member of the committee, Harry van Bommel, said he would have liked Leegte as chairman. "Europe is a complex subject and Leegte has the expertise", he said.

In May this year, Leegte published a report title Ahead in Europe, in which he suggested the Dutch House of Representatives should be more involved in the European decision-making process.

Wilders' party suffers blow, according to exit poll

Geert Wilders Freedom Party lost almost five percent of its votes compared to 2009 while the pro-EU D66 emerged at the top, according to exit polls for the EU vote in the Netherlands.

MEPs press EU Commission over Qatari-paid business-class flights

Pro-transparency MEPs are asking probing questions into possible conflict of interest between a senior EU commission official and Qatar, following revelations his business class trips were paid by Doha while negotiating a market access deal for its national airline.

Opinion

Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown

Turkey goes to the polls in May for both a new parliament and new president, after incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided against a post-earthquake postponement. The parliamentary outcome is easy to predict — the presidential one less so.

Latest News

  1. Turkey's election — the Erdoğan vs Kılıçdaroğlu showdown
  2. When geopolitics trump human rights, we are all losers
  3. EU starts talks on 11th round of Russia sanctions
  4. EU fears Tunisia turmoil will spark migrant boat departures
  5. 'Symbolic' Putin indictment gets some EU backing
  6. 'Final warning' to act on climate change, warns IPCC
  7. 'No one is unemployable': the French social experiment
  8. Why can't we stop marches glorifying Nazism on EU streets?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us