Menno Snel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Snel in 2018 | |
| State Secretary for Finance | |
| In office 26 October 2017 – 18 December 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Eric Wiebes |
| Succeeded by | Alexandra van Huffelen Hans Vijlbrief |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Menno Snel (1970-10-29)29 October 1970 (age 54) Vleuten-De Meern, Netherlands |
| Political party | Democrats 66(from 2017) |
| Residence | The Hague |
| Alma mater | University of Groningen (Bachelor of Economics,Master of Economics) |
| Occupation | Politician · civil servant · Economist · Banker ·Financial adviser ·Corporate director |
Menno Snel (born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch politician. A member of theDemocrats 66 (D66) party, he served asState Secretary for Finance from 26 October 2017 until his resignation on 18 December 2019.[1]
Snel was born inVleuten-De Meern in theprovince ofUtrecht. He studied general economics between 1988 and 1994 at theUniversity of Groningen, where he was a board member at the student association RKSV Albertus Magnus.
After graduation, he worked at the Dutch bankMeesPierson. In 1995, he joined the Ministry of Finance, of which a while as the Deputy Director-General for Fiscal Affairs, a position he was appointed in at age 33.[2] During his time at the Finance Ministry, he worked on various dossiers, including the budget policy (most notably the Zalmnorm instituted byGerrit Zalm) and internationaltax competition between countries.[2]
He later worked for the pension fundAPG, where he held from 2009 to 2011 the position of director strategy and policy. Between 2011 and 2016 he worked in Washington, D.C. with theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) in its daily governance and on 1 September 2016 he was appointed as chairman of the board of theNederlandse Waterschapsbank.[1][2]
On 26 October 2017, Snel joined the newly formedThird Rutte cabinet asState Secretary forFinance. He joined theDemocrats 66 (D66) a short while before his appointment and was considered a surprise and technical appointment by many.[3] His portfolio includes Fiscal Affairs, Lower Governmental Finances, theRoyal Dutch Mint,Holland Casino and the State Lottery. His primary challenge is expected to be the reform of theTax and Customs Administration, which went through a lot of turmoil in the recent past.[3]
Later, Snel was accused of (knowingly) unlawfully reclaiming subsidies paid out to citizens, for children, thus forcing these citizens into bankruptcies or lifelong repayment schemes.[4] At least 300 parents have been affected, but were promised reimbursement by the government. The government has accused the Tax Service as a whole responsible. Employees were afraid to speak out in fear of losing their jobs. Hints of fraud have been hinted at from as early as 2014.
In January 2021 thisNetherlands child welfare fraud scandal led the cabinet Rutte to collectively decide to resign and to continue as ademissionary cabinet until the planned2021 Dutch general election.[5]
In 2022, Snel became the Netherlands’ nominee to succeedKlaus Regling as Managing Director of theEuropean Stability Mechanism.[6]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | State Secretary for Finance 2017–2019 | Succeeded by |
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