You can vote for these agricultural heads

The choice is not huge if you would like to trust your voice to someone with an agricultural background on Thursday 23 May. Nevertheless, there are a number of farmers on the Dutch electoral lists for the European elections, or at least candidates with an affinity for the agricultural sector. The CDA is best represented in this.

Jan Huitema (#2 VVD)
Jan Huitema is perhaps the most well-known farmer operating in the European Union. The politician and his father run a dairy farm with 130 cows in the Frisian town of Makkinga. He studied animal sciences in Wageningen and had political interests from an early age. Since 2014, he has been active as a Member of the European Parliament in the Committee on Agriculture and the Environment.

Bert-Jan Ruissen (#2 SGP)
After his education at the agricultural university in Wageningen, Bert-Jan Ruissen became a policy officer at the SGP in the European Parliament in 1995. He is currently a coordinating policy officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and a councilor in Krimpen aan den IJssel.

Esther de Lange (#1 CDA)
Esther de Lange has been active in the European Parliament since 1999. According to her Wiki page, in her first term as a Member of the European Parliament, she has campaigned for fair agricultural reform and was also involved in the current Common Agricultural Policy. Since the re-election in 2014, De Lange has been a member of the Committee on Economics and Monetary Affairs. She is also chair of the CDA delegation and vice-chair of the EPP group.

Annie Schreijer-Pierik (#4, CDA)
Annie Schreijer-Pierik has been active in the European Parliament since 2014, where she has been the agricultural spokesperson for the CDA for the past 5 years. On behalf of the EPP group, she is also closely involved in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2020. Schreijer-Pierik, who was active in various agricultural organizations at an early age, is (as she herself) says 'proud Twente resident'. She lives in Hengevelde, where she and her husband ran a mixed business (pig farming and arable farming) until 5 years ago. In addition to being a member of the Agriculture Committee, she is a member of the Environment Committee (ENVI) and the Fisheries Committee.

Henk Jan Ormel (#5, CDA)
Former veterinarian Henk Jan Ormel became politically active during the foot and mouth crisis. From 2002 he was a member of the House of Representatives for 10 years, including as a foreign spokesperson and spokesperson for animal health, animal welfare, biotechnology and medical-ethical issues. Since 2012, Ormel has been working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome.

Sjaak van der Tak (#8, CDA)
Sjaak van der Tak has been the chairman of Greenhouse Horticulture Netherlands since 1 October 2017, after being the mayor of the municipality of Westland for 13 years. He was also the chairman of Greenport Holland, among other things.

Eveline Herben (#9, CDA)
Eveline Herben has been the representative of the interests of the Dutch flower sector in Europe for the past 9 years. She has a legal background and works as a lobbyist at the Netherlands Flower Auction Association (VBN).

Albert Jan Maat (#16, CDA)
Albert Jan Maat is best known as the former foreman of LTO Nederland (2007 to 2016). He started his political career as chairman of the CDA in Drenthe. In the European Parliament, he was a member and vice-chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vision on European agricultural policy
In the run-up to the European parliamentary elections on Thursday 23 May, Boerenbusiness 6 questions daily for people with a vision on European agricultural policy. Read the answers of Sieta van Keimpema (Dutch Dairymen Board) and Jerry Vergeer (GreenLeft).

Jeanette Pennings

Jeannet has her roots in the flower bulb sector and she grew up on an agricultural company in the northern part of North Holland. As a generalist she reports for Boerenbusiness across all sectors. She is also exploring the possibilities of sponsored advertising.

j.pennings@boerenbusiness. Nl

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