Kok, Wim

Place and Date of Birth:

Bergambacht (Netherlands), 29 September, 1938.

Education:

Nijenrode Business School in the Netherlands (1958).

Professional Experience:

Kok served in the military of the Netherlands after Business School. He has been Vice-Chairman of the Board of De Nederlandsche Bank, and visiting lecturer at the Institute of Social Studies. He currently serves on the supervisory boards of various organizations, including the ING Group, Royal Dutch/Shell, TNT N.V., and KLM. 

Political Career:

In 1961 he was appointed assistant international officer of the Netherlands Federation of Trade Unions (NVV), a socialist trade union. He served as chairman of NVV from 1973 until 1986. From 1979 to 1982 he held the position of Chairman of the European Trade Union Federation. He has also been Deputy Chairman of the Socioeconomic Council (SER) and Chairman of the employees’ representatives in the Labour Foundation.

In 1986 Wim Kok became both a member of the Lower House of Parliament and the leader of the Labour Party (PvdA). Mr Kok was advisor to the President of the European Commission (1985-1986). In 1989, he was elected deputy chairman of the Socialist International. From 1986 to 1994 he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Kok was elected Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs of the Netherlands in 1994 and was reelected in 1998, positions which he held until 2002.

From May till November 2004, he was chairman of the High Level Group on the Lisbon Strategy. The High Level Group had been asked by the European Commission and European Council to carry out an independent analysis of European growth and employment. The Group presented its report on November 3rd, 2004.

Other:

Mr Kok is the recipient of an Honorary degree from the Nyenrode University, Breukelen (the Netherlands); and an Honorary degree from the Westfälische Wilhelms Universität, Münster (Germany).