Wilfried Martens
Wilfried Martens listen / i ( born April 19, 1936 in Sleidinge, Flanders, † October 9, 2013 in Lokeren ) was a Belgian politician (CD & V). He was prime minister of his country, and President of the European People's Party.
Life
Wilfried Martens grew up with four siblings in ostflandrischen Sleidinge in modest circumstances on. His father died in 1943 and his mother stayed with five children under difficult circumstances back alone. Thanks to a talented scholarship, he was able to study in Eeklo at Sint- Vincentiuscollege from 1949.
Katrien Van Dyck pointed in a 2006 portrait by Wilfried Martens pointed out that this was already convinced at an early age from the fact that a federal structure would be the best solution for Flanders and Belgium. As to the effect Martens formulated his political ideas in an exam question in trade rhetoric on Vincentiuscollege that of his teacher praised him for the beautiful speech delivered but rejected his political idea of federalism back as false.
The negative attitude of his Retoriklehrers in Eeklo intimates that such ideas in the unit of state- oriented Belgium were eyed as almost subversive - revolutionary. Martens, however, was not to be deterred.
From St Vincentiuscollege in Eeklo he came with people from the Flemish Movement in contact. Martens later emphasized that until then no one had ever interested in " flamigante " matters or even involved in his family itself. Because he was convinced of the federal idea, he founded a so-called ABN - core in college. ABN stands for Algemeen Nederlands Beschaafd, the then common name for the Dutch standard written language. Wilfried Martens saw it as a prerequisite for an independent Flanders in a federal state structure that on the Flemish side, a better and more in-depth knowledge of Dutch would be present. Due to the strong Frenchification of education and the administration had demanded deficits in this direction.
1955 went Wilfried Martens then lions around there at the Catholic University to study law. He was involved there into the Flemish movement, so among other things, for the acceptance of the Dutch language at the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958.
Wilfried Martens in 1960 a doctorate in law and acquired the notary license and the Baccalaureate of Thomistic philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven. During his studies, he was also been President of the suburb Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudenten Verbond.
From 1960, Martens worked as a lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Ghent.
From 1960 to 1964 Martens was a board member of a co-founder of Maurits Coppieters Flemish People's Movement ( VVB ). On the VVB Congress from February 4, 1962 Martens pleaded publicity for the creation of a federal state of Belgium. However, he was aware that in order to realize his ideas a wider -supported social group is necessary. Logically, therefore Martens came in 1965 in the Christelijke Volkspartij (CVP ). In the same year he was appointed adviser to the cabinet of Prime Minister Pierre Harmel and 1966 as an advisor to the cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants. He was Special Representative in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Leo Tindemans, who was responsible for Community Affairs in 1968.
In 1968 he participated in an international seminar at Harvard University.
Wilfried Martens was 1974-1991 deputy of the former Christian People's Party in the Belgian parliament and senator from 1991 to 1994. From 1979 to March 1992, Martens, with an 8 - month break in 1981 in nine governments Prime Minister of Belgium. In the 1980s, Belgium suffered from a sovereign and financial crisis: the annual government deficit was 13%, the national debt exceeded the annual gross national product. The government coalition held an average of only 6 months. The government Martens 5 and the subsequent government fought the crisis by translated by a strict budget, the Belgian devalued currency, and lifted the automatic alignment of salaries to the rate of inflation. In 1990, he refused, appealing to his conscience, to sign a law that would have facilitated abortions.
Along with Jean -Luc Dehaene and Hugo Schiltz Martens was a driving force in the reforms of 1988 and 1989, had the goal of rebuilding the Belgian state into a federal state and to transfer skills from the headquarters in the three regions as well as in the communities.
European policy
Martens was one of the founding members of the European People's Party ( EPP) in the European Parliament and President of the Program Commission of the EVP of 1976 until 1977. Since May 10, 1990 he was the President of the EPP. From 1993 to 1996 he was the president of the European Union of Christian Democrats (EUCD ). On April 4, 2013 Martens, seriously ill, Joseph Daul asked to take over in his place the chair of the EPP.
1994 Martens was a member of the European Parliament and President of the EPP Group (until 1999). Party political reasons Martens opted not to run again for the European Parliament.
From 2000 to 2001, Wilfried Martens, President of the International Christian Democrats and the mainstream parties (CDI ).
Family
Martens was married three times. With his first wife Lieve Verschroeven (1937-2013) he lived 30 years and had two children with her. After the separation in 1998 he married Ilse Schouteden, which had already brought him to the world of 1997 twins. 2007, the two parted and Martens also married a year later Mrs Smet, CD & V politician and former colleague.