Pierre Harmel
Pierre Charles José Marie Graf ( 1991 ) Harmel ( born March 16, 1911 in Uccle / Ukkel in Brussels, † November 15, 2009 in Brussels) was a Belgian lawyer and statesman. He was Prime Minister of Belgium from 1965 to 1966 and from 1966 to 1972 Belgian Foreign Minister.
Life
Harmel has made in the Christelijke Volkspartij - Parti Social Chrétien ( CVP- PSC, now split into CD & V and cdH ) political career. Between 1950 and 1972 he held several ministerial posts, including that of the Prime Minister ( 1965-1966 ). In Belgium, his influence was decisive in the fields of education and culture, as well as in the relations between the communities.
After earning a diploma as Doctor of Laws, as well as licenses in Social Sciences, Notary (1933 ) and Tax Law (1940 ) received Pierre Harmel a job as an assistant at the University of Liège, before he was in 1947 appointed professor, a position he held until 1981 gave up. Pierre Harmel began his political career in the Parti Social Chrétien and 1946 was elected deputy. Two years later he participated in the establishment of the Centre of Research on the national solution to the social, political and legal problems of the Walloon and the Flemish Region in part, in 1958, a report presented which demonstrated the need for both communities to get to the cultural independence. This report was the basis for the later language legislation in Belgium.
Policy
Between 1950 and 1961, Pierre Harmel held ministerial posts in several successive governments (State Education, Justice and Public Service) and was in the second government Gaston Eyskens ( 1958-1961 ), first Minister of Cultural Affairs in the history of Belgium. In his position as Minister of the state school system, he took mainly measures in favor of the state subsidy of the mean, normal and technical education system.
After a period as chairman of the French-speaking wing of the CSP (1964-1965), he became Prime Minister in 1965 and remained so until 1966 in a coalition of the Social Christian and Socialist Party. Despite his efforts, he did not have a sufficient majority to adopt the conclusions of the round table in relation to the constitutional reform with a view to the federalization of the country.
Between 1966 and 1972 his political career gained international dimensions seventeen years after his first major action on the international stage when he represented Belgium at the 4th Assembly of the United Nations. As Foreign Minister, he was the principal author of the 1967 stored Harmel Report. This exerted a considerable influence on the redefinition of NATO policy at the moment of détente between East and West. As an advocate of a strong defense policy, but also proponents of dialogue and constructive cooperation of measures with the Soviet bloc, he served for a long time as the most important source of inspiration for the policy of NATO and its will to guarantee a stable peace. 1973 Pierre Harmel was appointed Minister of State and was until 1977 President of the Belgian Senate. For his achievements made him King Baudouin in 1991 the hereditary nobility of an earl.