Will Carola Schouten become agriculture minister?

Rumors abound about who will be the next Agriculture Minister. It seems more and more that the new minister comes from the ranks of the ChristenUnie. 2 persons would have been nominated by this party. A condition would be that agriculture gets its own ministry. 

This article is an update.

De Telegraaf reports that Carol Schouten the new minister will be at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Quality and Region. The ChristenUnie would have ‘demanded’ that agriculture should have its own ministry, with an independent budget. The number of ministries would thus be expanded from 11 to 12. Schouten has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2011. 

In her debut year, she was directly voted Political Talent of the Year by the parliamentary press. Schouten studied ‘Business Administration’ at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and comes from farming.

Her parents ran a dairy farm in one of the northern provinces. Her father died when she was 9 years old, after which her mother continued the business for a number of years while raising her three daughters. Schouten is known in the sector as a strong personality with extensive file knowledge. Her possible arrival is positively received.

Incidentally, Schouten is mentioned as a candidate for several posts. Yesterday, October 17, Schouten was mentioned in the ADÂ as deputy prime minister in Rutte III.

Called mayor of Deventer
According to the OUR has the Christian Union Andrew Heidema put forward as the new agriculture minister. Heidema has been the mayor of Deventer since 2007. Before that, he was mayor of the municipality of Neder-Betuwe. Heidema has a background in agriculture. For example, he studied ‘land development sciences’ at the agricultural university in Wageningen.

Before his mayorship, Andries Heidema worked at the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM).

There is, however, a caveat to the person of Heidema. In 2010, he was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident, in which he suffered a double leg fracture. Heidema was not wearing a helmet, nor did he have a motorcycle license at the time.

More CU candidates
According to its own sources, it is currently up to the CU to provide an agriculture minister and the Groningen agriculture deputy is also Henk StaghouwerIn Dick Pouwels, chairman of the executive board of the HAS in Den Bosch mentioned as possible candidates. 

CDA candidates 
Two names are also mentioned from the CDA camp. Last week became a member of the European Parliament Esther de Lange by various media named as new agriculture minister.

Also a Jan-Jacob van Dyke, deputy of the province of Gelderland, was then called in the corridors .

 

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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