 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Willem Scholten" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Willem Scholten (1 June 1927 – 1 January 2005) was a Dutch politician of the defunctChristian Historical Union (CHU) party and later theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and economist. He was granted the honorary title ofMinister of State on 1 July 1997.[1]
Scholten attended aGymnasium inDeventer from May 1939 until June 1945 and applied at the National Tax Academy inRotterdam in July 1945 and simultaneously applied at theUniversity of Amsterdam in July 1945majoring inTax law and obtaining aBachelor of Laws degree in June 1947 before graduating with aMaster of Laws degree in July 1951. Scholten worked as a civil servant forTax and Customs Administration of theMinistry of Finance from September 1951 until June 1963.
Scholten was elected as aMember of the House of Representatives after theelection of 1963, taking office on 5 June 1963 serving as afrontbencher andspokesperson forFinances and deputy spokesperson forJustice andEconomic Affairs. After theelection of 1971 Scholten was appointed asState Secretary for Finance in theCabinet Biesheuvel I, taking office on 14 July 1971. The Cabinet Biesheuvel I fell just one year later on 19 July 1972 and continued to serve in ademissionary capacity until thefirst cabinet formation of 1972 when it was replaced by thecaretakerCabinet Biesheuvel II with Scholten continuing as State Secretary for Finance, taking office on 9 August 1972. After theelection of 1972 Scholten returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 19 December 1972 but he was still serving in the cabinet and because ofdualism customs in theconstitutional convention of Dutch politics he couldn't serve adual mandate he subsequently resigned as State Secretary for Finance on 19 March 1973. Following thesecond cabinet formation of 1972 Scholten was not giving a cabinet post in the newCabinet Den Uyl and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Finances and Economic Affairs and deputy spokesperson for Justice andInternational trade. Scholten was selected as aMember of the European Parliament anddual served in those positions, taking office on 25 June 1973. In February 1976 Scholten was nominated asMember of the Council of State, he resigned as a Member of the House of Representatives and a Member of the European Parliament the same day he was installed as a Member of the Council of State, taking office on 1 March 1976. Scholten was appointed asMinister of Defence in theCabinet Van Ag-Wiegel following the resignation ofRoelof Kruisinga, taking office on 8 March 1978. In August 1980 Scholten was nominated asVice-President of the Council of State, he resigned as Minister of Defence on 25 August 1980 and was installed as Vice-President, serving from 1 October 1980 until 1 July 1997.
Scholten semi-retired after spending 34 years in national politics and became active in theprivate sector andpublic sector and occupied numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director on several boards of directors and supervisory boards (Institute of International Relations Clingendael,Society for Statistics and Operations Research,Royal Library of the Netherlands,SEO Economic Research and theCarnegie Foundation) and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government (Public Pension Funds PFZW,Statistics Netherlands and thePublic Pension Funds APB).
Scholten was known for his abilities as anegotiator andconsensus builder. Scholten continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death at the age of 77 and holds the distinction as the second longest-serving Vice-President of the Council of State afterWorld War II with 16 years, 273 days.
Netherlands:Minister of State (1 July 1997) with style ofHis Excellency
Grand Officer of theOrder of Orange-Nassau (1 July 1997)
Commander of theOrder of Orange-Nassau (15 September 1980)
Knight of theOrder of the Netherlands Lion (8 June 1973)
Belgium: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Crown (5 August 1982)
France: Grand Officer of theOrder of Legion of Honour (12 May 1985)
Germany: Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (10 December 1990)
Luxembourg: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Oak Crown (30 November 1986)
Suriname: Grand Officer of theHonorary Order of the Yellow Star (12 January 1988)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | State Secretary for Finance 1971–1973 With:Fons van der Stee | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Jan de Koning Ad interim | Minister of Defence 1978–1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice-President of the Council of State 1980–1997 | Succeeded by |
 | ||
| Labour Party | |
|---|---|
| Catholic People's Party | |
| Anti-Revolutionary Party | |
| People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | |
| Christian Historical Union | |
| Democrats 66 | |
| Political Party of Radicals | |
| Communist Party of the Netherlands | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
.jpg)
