Frits Bolkestein
Overview
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...
(VVD). He served as a Member of the House of Representatives from 16 January 1978, until 5 November 1982, when he became State Secretary
State Secretary (Netherlands)
State Secretary is the title of a junior member of the Dutch or Belgian cabinet. Other terms for the title are deputy minister, junior minister or vice-minister...
for Economic Affairs from 5 November 1982, until 14 July 1986, in the Cabinet Lubbers I
Netherlands cabinet Lubbers-1
The first Lubbers cabinet was formed by the right-wing political parties CDA and VVD. The aim of the cabinet was cutting government spending and privatizations. There was much internal resistance of the left-wing, especially the largest mass demonstration in Dutch history, against the placement of...
. And again a Member of the House of Representatives from 3 June 1986, until 24 September 1988, when he became Minister of Defence
Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)
The Netherlands Ministry of Defence governs the Netherlands Armed Forces. The Minister is assisted by a State Secretary...
from 24 September 1988, until 7 November 1989, in the Cabinet Lubbers II
Netherlands cabinet Lubbers-2
The second Lubbers cabinet was a continuation of the coalition of the right-wing political parties CDA and VVD. Its main aim was the continuation of the policy of cutting government spending. There was a large-scale revision of the welfare state and the public postal service was privatised...
.
Quotations
If we fail in our efforts to achieve harmonisation of patent law relating to computer-implemented inventions in the European Union, we may well be confronted with a renegotiation of the European Patent Convention. The process of renegotiating the European Patent Convention would not require any contribution from this Parliament.
Speech to the European Parliament (23 September 2003)