Wopke Hoekstra | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth | |
| Assumed office 1 December 2024 | |
| Commission | Von der Leyen II |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| European Commissioner for Climate Action | |
| In office 9 October 2023 – 1 December 2024 | |
| Commission | Von der Leyen I |
| Preceded by | Maroš Šefčovič(acting) |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| Second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands | |
| In office 10 January 2022 – 1 September 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Kajsa Ollongren |
| Succeeded by | Karien van Gennip |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 10 January 2022 – 1 September 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Ben Knapen |
| Succeeded by | Liesje Schreinemacher(acting) |
| Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal | |
| In office 11 December 2020 – 14 August 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Hugo de Jonge |
| Succeeded by | Henri Bontenbal |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 26 October 2017 – 10 January 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Jeroen Dijsselbloem |
| Succeeded by | Sigrid Kaag |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| In office 31 March 2021 – 10 January 2022 | |
| Member of theSenate | |
| In office 7 June 2011 – 26 October 2017 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra (1975-09-30)30 September 1975 (age 50) |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Appeal |
| Domestic partner | Liselot Hoornweg |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Leiden University(LLB,LLM) INSEAD(MBA) |
| Website | Government website |
Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra (Dutch:[ˈʋɔpkəˈbɑstijaːnˈɦukstraː]; born 30 September 1975) is a Dutch politician of theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who serves asEuropean Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth in thesecond von der Leyen commission.
Following a corporate career and a decade in theDutch Senate andHouse of Representatives, Hoekstra served asMinister of Finance in thethird Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 2022 andLeader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) from 2020 to 2023.[1] In January 2022, he becamesecond Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands andMinister of Foreign Affairs in thefourth Rutte cabinet. Hoekstra left the cabinet in September 2023 to succeedFrans Timmermans as European Commissioner for Climate Action in thefirst von der Leyen commission, and he stayed in his role when the second von der Leyen Commission was inaugurated in December 2024.[2]
Hoekstra was born inBennekom,Gelderland. He studied law atLeiden University from 1994 and obtained hisLLM degree in 2001. He also studied history at this university for one year, in which he received apropaedeutic diploma in 1997.[3] During his student years in Leiden he was president of the fraternityMinerva. Hoekstra tookelective courses in law and economics atLUISS inRome in 2000, before he obtained anMBA degree atINSEAD inFontainebleau, France andSingapore in 2005.[4][5]
Before he joined the government, Hoekstra was a partner with the consultancy firmMcKinsey. Hoekstra was also chairman of the supervisory board of theNational Maritime Museum in Amsterdam and ambassador for the Prinses Maxima Centrum for pediatric oncology.[6] Until 2006, he worked forShell inBerlin,Hamburg andRotterdam.[7]
Hoekstra was the treasurer of the CDA-affiliated foundationEduardo Freistichting and board member of the local CDA association in Amsterdam.[8]
In December 2010, it was announced that Hoekstra was a candidate for theSenate election of 2011, for which he was indeed elected, and sworn in on 7 June 2011 as its youngest member.[6] Membership of theSenate is a part-time position, and therefore Hoekstra continued as consultant with McKinsey. On 6 December of the same year, he gave hismaiden speech during the debate on a tax-related topic. In the Senate, he stood out as the party's spokesperson for pensions. He was not reluctant to deviate from the party line on a number of ethical issues: he was the only CDA senator to vote in favour of a ban on civil servants refusing to marry same-sex couples (weigerambtenaar) and to vote in favour of legal status for lesbian parents (meemoederschap). He was reelected in2015. Ahead of the2017 general election, Hoekstra helped write the CDA's manifesto.[9]
Hoekstra was nominated by the parliamentary press in 2013 as 'political talent of the year' and in 2016 he was the second-youngest person in theDe Volkskrant top-200 of influential Dutch people. In 2016, he was one of the lead architects of the party platform.[6][4]
Hoekstra was appointedMinister of Finance in thethird Rutte cabinet on 26 October 2017, succeedingJeroen Dijsselbloem.[8]
At his first meeting with other EU Ministers of Finance in Brussels in 2017, Hoekstra expressed scepticism about eurozone reform, saying that budgetary discipline in other eurozone states was necessary first.[10] Hoekstra reiterated his reluctance on eurozone reform at a meeting of the financial council of theChristian Democratic Union of Germany in 2018, warning against reforms initiated by Germany and France without the support of other member states or the public.[11] Furthermore, at a visit to his German counterpartOlaf Scholz in March 2018, Hoekstra explained that he is reluctant about plans for an eurozone budget, an eurozone finance minister and a common deposit insurance scheme.[12] After Germany and France had outlined a series of eurozone reforms in June 2018, Hoekstra led a coalition of twelve other member states in opposition to such reforms, which would later be referred to as theNew Hanseatic League.[13] In January 2019, Hoekstra criticised the European Commission for its decision not to launch a disciplinary procedure against Italy over its deficit and debt, stating "It's a missed opportunity to do the right thing for the long run",[14] a concern later repeated by Prime MinisterMark Rutte at theWorld Economic Forum.[15]
During his time in office, Hoekstra oversaw the government's purchase of a stake inAir France KLM equal to that of the French government to increase its influence in the carrier's business operations in 2019.[16] That same year, led negotiations with the German government on the possibility of buying a stake in grid operatorTenneT.[17]
Since 2018, Hoekstra has been chairing a newly established, informal grouping of small northern and BalticEU member states –Estonia,Finland,Ireland,Latvia,Lithuania and theNetherlands –[18] to find common cause on the direction ofeurozone reforms.[19] Hoekstra has also expressed his opposition to an increase in the Netherlands' contribution to theEU budget as a result ofBrexit.[20] In 2019, Hoekstra joined forces with his counterparts of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Latvia in pushing for the establishment of new EU supervisory authority that would take over from states the oversight of money laundering at financial firms.[21]
In March 2020, after a tense meeting with fellow EU national leaders where Hoekstra called for an investigation into southern European countries' proclaimed lack of budgetary capacity to cope with theCOVID-19 pandemic, Portuguese Prime MinisterAntónio Costa referred to his comments as "repugnant",[22] saying that "this recurrent pettiness completely undermines what the spirit of the European Union is."[22]
On 31 October 2020, Hoekstra stated that the Dutch government would not provide further financial assistance toKLM as long as it did not agree with financial sacrifices by all employees for a period of five years. In discussions with KLM, the Dutch Airline Pilots Association (Dutch:Vereniging van Nederlandse Verkeersvliegers) and theFederation of Dutch Trade Unions refused to comply with the five-year period Hoekstra requested.[23] Several days later the parties agreed with the terms and the Dutch cabinet approved the deal with KLM on 4 November.[24][25]
On 11 December 2020, a day afterHugo de Jonge announced his resignation asLeader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, the party's board unanimously nominated Hoekstra to succeed him.[9]
On 15 January 2021, Hoekstra stepped down along with the Dutch government, after thousands of families were wrongly accused of child welfare fraud.[26] In April 2021, he joined forces withSigrid Kaag in putting forward a motion ofcensure to voice their disapproval of Prime Minister Rutte.[27]
On 2009, leaked documents show that Hoekstra obtained shares in an offshore company, Candace Management Ltd., based in theBritish Virgin Islands. He acquired more shares in 2013 and 2014, while he was a senator.[28]
On 5 October 2021, Paul Tang, a Dutch centre-left MEP who chairs the European Parliament's tax committee, argued that Hoekstra should symbolically stay out of the EU tax-haven decision. "Hoekstra, who had investments in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), should excuse himself from this decision," Tang added.[29]
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On 10 January 2022, Hoekstra was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in thefourth Rutte cabinet.[30]
The cabinet fell on 7 July 2023 and directly after this Hoekstra announced that he would not lead the CDA party into the2023 Dutch general election.[31][32]
In August 2023, it became known that Hoekstra would receive the Dutch nomination as climate commissioner for the EU to succeedFrans Timmermans, who had withdrawn from the position to become the leader of the jointGroenLinks–PvdA alliance.[33] Although theEuropean environmental committee was not immediately convinced by Hoekstra's plans, it quickly approved of Hoekstra as a candidate.[34] On 5 October 2023, Hoekstra was finally voted into office by a simple majority in theEuropean Parliament.[35] He was the EU's main negotiator at aUnited Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) in Dubai the following month, at which participating countries agreed to shift away from usingfossil fuels. According to newspaperNRC, Hoekstra was "relatively invisible" during his tenure, as most of the term'sclimate legislation had already been finalized.[36] Hoekstra later complained that Chinese state-sponsored manufacturers were flooding the European market forrenewable energy products such as solar panels, electric vehicles, andelectrolysers, and he said that action had to be taken.[37]
Following theJune 2024 European Parliament election, theSchoof cabinet nominated Hoekstra on 22 July to serve as the next Dutch EU commissioner.[38] On 1 December 2024, he was sworn in as Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth as part of thesecond von der Leyen commission.[39][40]
According to a study by scientists fromUtrecht University published in August 2025, theAtlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) could start to collapse as early as the 2060s.[41] Thecollapse of the AMOC would be a severe climate catastrophe, resulting in a cooling of the Northern Hemisphere. Hoekstra described the findings as a "wake-up call".[42]
In September 2025, Hoekstra describedChina's new climate pledge as "clearly disappointing, and given China's immense footprint, it makes reaching the world's climate goals significantly more challenging."[43]
Belgium: Grand Cross of theOrder of the Crown (2023)[51]
Italy: Grand Officer of theOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic (2022)[52]
Sweden: Commander Grand Cross of theRoyal Order of the Polar Star (2022)[53]
Ukraine:Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of the III degree (2022)[54]Hoekstra lives with his wife, a general practitioner, and four children.[55][9] He is a member of theRemonstrant Brotherhood.[56]
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| Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual | |||||||
| 2021 | House of Representatives | Christian Democratic Appeal | 1 | 437,240 | 15 | Won | [57] | |
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 2017–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2022–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Climate Action 2023–2024 | Succeeded by Himself |
| Preceded by Himself | European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal 2020-2023 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
