Dassen was born in 1985 inEindhoven and grew up in the nearby villageKnegsel,North Brabant.[1][2] His father worked as a manager forPhilips, and his mother was a primary school teacher.[3] Dassen has an older sister and a younger brother, and he attended theVeldhoven secondary schoolSondervick College, earning hishavo diploma in 2003.[3][4] In his youth, he played football at the Knegselse Boys, and he played thebaritone horn in a youth orchestra.[2][3]
In 2012, following his graduation, Dassen took a job atABN AMRO. He was initially involved in risk management and in the prevention ofmoney laundering andterrorism financing, and he was posted toDubai for five months. Dassen later worked on web and app development at the bank.[5][6][11] He left his job in September 2018 but returned part-time for a few months in 2020.[8][12]
Dassen's transition to political life was caused by a variety of factors, including increasednationalism andpopulism,Brexit and theelection ofDonald Trump as President of the United States.[11] Unable to find an established political party that fit him, he joinedVolt Europa, who were seeking to form a Dutch wing, in February 2018 and became a volunteer.[3][5] Dassen was one of the people who foundedVolt Netherlands on 23 June 2018 and started serving as itstreasurer.[2][13] He quit his job at ABN AMRO in September to focus on politics full-time and also became Volt's secretary.[13][12] Dassen succeededReinier van Lanschot asparty chair on 15 December 2018, when Van Lanschot was chosen as the party'slijsttrekker for the2019 European Parliament election.[3][13] Dassen himself was listed third on the Volt Netherlandsparty list. The party received 1.93% of the vote, not enough to meet the threshold for a seat in theEuropean Parliament.[14]
On 6 June 2020, Dassen was chosen as Volt's top candidate for the2021 Dutch general election.[15] The Volt campaign focused on European, cross-border solutions forclimate change,migration, security, and social inequality.[16][17] Dassen rejected attempts to place him on theleft–right political spectrum, dismissing it as "old politics".[18] Volt won three seats in the election, resulting in Dassen being sworn in as member of theHouse of Representatives on 31 March.[19] He stated that his party, being a newcomer, was not open to joining a newgoverning coalition.[20] During 2022 budget debates, amotion by Volt and coalition partyD66 was carried by the House to appropriate €100 million to provide lunches in school.[21]
Dassen made various proposals in his first term to lower corruption and raise trust in the Dutch political system. In September 2021, Dassen and fellow members of parliament successfully called through a motion, which was adopted by the House, for a two-year period during which cabinet members could not fill a lobbying position following the end of their term. It was in reaction to recommendations byGRECO and to MinisterCora van Nieuwenhuizen stepping down to work as an energy lobbyist.[22] Dassen launched a plan with independent politicianPieter Omtzigt in May 2022 to combat corruption among cabinet members and other high-ranking government officials. Their proposal included the expansion of the integrity rules, the introduction of acode of conduct and an authority that enforces it, and the creation of alobby register that includes meetings.[23] A motion to introduce the register was carried, but Minister of the Interior and Kingdom RelationsHanke Bruins Slot refused to execute it.[24]De Volkskrant reported that some of the other proposals of Omtzigt and Dassen were used by Minister Bruins Slot in her bill for a two-year lobbying ban for former cabinet members. The sanctions they had suggested in case of breaching the rules, however, were not included.[25] Furthermore, Dassen suggested together withGert-Jan Segers (CU) that trust in the Dutch political system should be increase by strengthening the House's ability to gather information and by raising the number of seats in the House from 150 to 200.[26] Dassen presented a policy paper on political reform with Segers's successor –Mirjam Bikker – in August 2023. It contained three plans: to increase the size of the House from 150 to 250 seats, to involve the parliament earlier in bills initiated by the cabinet, and to organize more debates on long-term issues such as the effects ofartificial intelligence (AI). Dassen argued the responsibilities of members of parliament had grown, partly due tosocial media.[27]
During Dassen's tenure as caucus leader, the party suspended House memberNilüfer Gündoğan from its caucus following allegations of unacceptable behavior. When she was definitively expelled in February 2022 after an investigation, Gündoğan filed a criminal complaint fordefamation against Dassen, Volt, and the accusers.[28] A judge determined that the expulsion had been unjust, and Dassen subsequently apologized to Gündoğan but later stated that the conflict could only be resolved after the withdrawal of her criminal complaint.[29][30] Her expulsion was finally reinstated in March following a vote by the caucus, in which Dassen supported the move calling their relationship "permanently broken".[31][32] The conflict caused Dassen's approval rating among Volt voters to drop from 96% to 74% according to a poll byEenVandaag andIpsos.[33] Anappellate court ruled in 2023 that the expulsion had been correct, reversing the lower court's decision.[34]
When the collapse of thefourth Rutte cabinet triggered asnap election for November 2023, Dassen indicated his intention to become lead candidate once again. Volt's board nominated him for the post and the party's members affirmed the decision with 98% in support.[35][36] At the party conference, Dassen said radical choices are necessary to mitigate climate change and to reform the Dutch tax system. He advocated for replacing all government benefits by a limited basic income that would later be expanded to a trueuniversal basic income. He also campaigned on acancellation of debts by the government for those struggling with problematic debts.[37][38] Volt received two House seats, and Dassen was re-elected.
Following his studies in Nijmegen, Dassen lived inRotterdam before moving toAmsterdam, when he became a web and app developer at ABN AMRO. He left Amsterdam after eleven years in favor ofThe Hague in September 2021, while a member of parliament.[1][2][39] He met his girlfriend Britte while studying. Their son was born in 2023, and their second child was born the year after.[12][40][41][42]
^"Geslaagd" [Graduated].Eindhovens Dagblad (in Dutch). 19 June 2013.
^abcKosterman, Ron (17 April 2021). "Het idee achter Volt is zo volstrekt logisch" [The idea behind Volt is extremely logical].Elsevier Weekblad (in Dutch). Vol. 77, no. 16. p. 38.
