Christiaan "Chris" van Veen (19 December 1922 – 9 November 2009) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and trade association executive.[1]
Biography
Van Veen worked as a civil servant for the municipality of Den Bommel from February 1940 until September 1945 and for the municipality of Rijswijk from September 1945 until April 1960. Van Veen applied at the Free University Amsterdam in June 1952 majoring in Law and obtaining a Bachelor of Laws degree in July 1953 and graduating with a Master of Laws degree in June 1955. Van Veen worked as a civil servant for the municipality of Hoogeveen as city clerk from April 1960 until October 1964 and for the municipality of Groningen as city clerk from October 1964 until May 1967.
Van Veen semi-retired from national politics and became active in the public sector, in August 1973 Van Veen was nominated as a trade association executive for the Industry and Employers' association, serving as Vice Chairman from 1 September 1973 until 1 January 1974. In December 1974 Van Veen was nominated as Chairman of the Industry and Employers' association serving from 1 January 1974 until 1 November 1984. Van Veen was nominated as an Extraordinary Member of the Council of State, serving from 1 February 1985 until 1 January 1993. Van Veen remained active in the public sector and continued to occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the Centre for European Policy Studies) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government (Public Pension Funds APB, Raad voor Cultuur, SEO Economic Research and the Social and Economic Council)
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Van Veen was known for his abilities as a manager and consensus builder. Van Veen continued to comment on political affairs until his death at the age of 86.[2]