René van der Linden
Pierre René Hubert Marie van der Linden (born on December 14th, 1943 in Eys) is a Member of the Senate of the Netherlands. He was President of the Dutch Senate from 2009 to 2011, and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2005 to 2008.
Political Career[edit]
René van der Linden has been a member of the Dutch Senate since 1999. He was the president of the Senate from 2009 until 2011. He was the President of the Committee for European cooperation of the Dutch Senate from 2002 until 2009. Van der Linden was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives from 1977 until 1986 and from 1988 until 1998. He was the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs with responsibility for European Affairs from 1986 until 1988. He was a member of the cabinet of European Commissioner Pierre Lardinois from 1973 until 1977 and European Commissioner Henk Vredeling in 1977.
René van der Linden has been a member of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) since 1989. He was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union (WEU) and a member of the executive board of the Dutch employers’ confederation. Furthermore, he was a board member of several associations in the agricultural sector.
Education[edit]
René van der Linden studied Economics (international administrative studies) at the Catholic Economics Faculty in Tilburg from 1966 until 1970. In 1970 he did an internship at the European Commission in Brussels.
Special Achievements[edit]
René van der Linden has many Dutch and foreign honors. He has two Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands Awards, in 1988 and 1998. He became Officer of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium in 2011. In 2007 he became Commander of the Legion of Honour of France. In 2004 René became Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 2003 he became Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great of the Holy See. In 2005 he received the Congressional Medal of Achievement of the Philippines. In 2006 René van der Linden became Knight Grand Cross of the Order of San Marino and in 2013 he received the Order of the Republic Medal of Turkey.
