Jaak Gabriëls

Petrus Josephus Jacobus " Jaak " Gabriëls ( born September 22, 1943 in Bree, Limburg Province, Belgium) is a Belgian politician of the Volksunie and the Open Flemish Liberals en Democraten (VLD ), both ministers in the federal government and in the government Flanders was.

Biography

After visiting the Sint- Martinusscholen he began in 1965 to study philosophy and literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, where he was also a member of the Catholic Flemish university students association ( KVHV ).

His political career began first as a member of the Council of the province of Limburg, of which he was between 1974 and 1977. In 1977 he was elected as representative of the VLD a member of the Chamber of Deputies and later became a member of the Flemish Parliament. Since 1977 he has also been also mayor of his hometown of Bree.

Between 1986 and 1992 he was chairman of the Volksunie and one of the most important advocates for programmatic and human renewal. After the defeat in the parliamentary elections in 1991 he was among the strongest supporters of a collaboration between the Volksunie and the traditional liberal Partij voor de Vrijheid Vooruitgang (PVV ). When he not a part of the members of the Volksunie followed in this intention, he came back in 1992, left along with numerous of his followers as Andre Geens, Hugo Coveliers, Bart Somers and Jef Valkeniers the Volksunie and shortly thereafter founded the VLD.

On 12 July 1999 Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt called him to Minister of Agriculture and medium-sized businesses in its first government.

On 10 July 2001, he retired from the federal government and was instead the Flemish Prime Minister Patrick Dawael in the regional government of Flanders called. There he was to 2003 Minister of Economic Affairs, Foreign Trade and housing. In addition, he was between 2002 and June 2003, Flemish Minister of Foreign Affairs.

For his political merits Jaak Gabriëls was awarded on 26 January 2004 with several other former ministers with the honorary title of Minister of State.