Camiel Eurlings

Camiel Martinus Petrus Stephanus Eurlings (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkaːmil ˈøːrlɪŋs]; born 16 September 1973) is a Dutch politician and businessman. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he served as Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management from 2007 to 2010.

Camiel Eurlings
Eurlings in 2008
Minister of Transport and Water Management
In office 22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Karla Peijs
Succeeded by	Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment)
Member of the European Parliament
In office 20 July 2004 – 22 February 2007
Constituency	Netherlands
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 19 May 1998 – 20 July 2004
Personal details
Born	Camiel Martinus Petrus Stephanus Eurlings 16 September 1973 Valkenburg aan de Geul, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Residence	Valkenburg aan de Geul, Netherlands
Alma mater	Eindhoven University of Technology (Bachelor of Engineering, Master of Engineering)
Occupation	Politician · Businessman · Corporate director · Sport administrator

A corporate director by occupation, Eurlings was elected as a member of the House of Representatives at the general election of 1998, serving from 19 May 1998 until 20 July 2004, when he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the European Parliament election of 2004, serving from 20 July 2004 until 22 February 2007. After the general election of 2006, Eurlings was asked to become Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet, serving from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010.

Eurlings retired from active politics at the age of 37 and became a corporate director and later President and CEO of KLM, serving at the Air France – KLM Group from 15 March 2011 until 16 October 2014. Later he served, amongst others, as Member of the Board of Directors of American Express GBT and currently as Director of Knighthood Capital.

Biography

Eurlings is the eldest son of Martin Eurlings, a former member of the provincial-executive of Limburg, who has been the Mayor of Valkenburg aan de Geul since 2007 . After grammar school in Maastricht, Eurlings began to study Industrial Engineering at Eindhoven in 1993. He was also politically active in his hometown, and on 12 April 1994, at age 20, was elected councillor of his hometown. This made him the youngest councillor at that time.Eurlings graduated cum laude in 1998. At that moment he already was elected as youngest member of the Netherlands National Parliament (‘Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal’).

Politics

Camiel Eurlings was Member of the Netherlands House of Representatives from 1998 until 2004 for the CDA (Christian Democrat Alliance). He was, amongst others, chief spokesman for Transport and for Foreign Affairs. Eurlings was a former Member of the European Parliamentfrom 2004 until 2007. He sat on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He also chaired the delegation to the European Union–Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, and was a substitute for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, and the delegation for relations with Israel. He was the European Rapporteur for the Accession of Turkey from 2004 until 2007. From March 2006 to March 2007 he served as Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP). From 2007 to 2010 he was the Netherlands Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.

Business career

Eurlings became a corporate director for KLM, in the meantime leading the Cargo department of Air France and KLM. Under his responsibility the commercial integration of Full Freight company Martinair and Air France – KLM Cargo was effectuated.. On 1 July 2013 he succeeded Peter Hartman as the President and CEO of the KLM.[1][2] In 2014, fellow Dutch executives elected Eurlings as 'Best Manager 2014',[3] followed by Frans van Houten (Philips) and Dick Boer (Ahold). On 15 October 2014 he announced that he would be leaving KLM.[4]

Eurlings served as Member of the Alliance Steering Committee of the Board of Directors of GOL Airlines (Brazil) in 2013 and 2014.

From 2011 until 2014 Eurlings was Member of the Executive Board of the Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW).

In June 2015 Eurlings announced on his LinkedIn page that he had been working as a member of the board of directors of American Express Global Business Travel since January 2015.[5] He resigned from this position in January 2017.[6]

In February 2018 Eurlings started ad advisor to the Board of Directors of Knighthood Capital. An organisation based in Abu Dhabi, Geneva and Malta. In September 2018 he was asked to become a Director himself. On that occasion, Mr James Hogan, executive chairman of Knighthood and former CEO of Etihad Airways stated: ‘We are very pleased to have Camiel on board. In addition to his expertise in aviation and hospitality, his extensive strategic experience in public-private sector collaboration and partnerships will be most valuable in our current projects.’[7]

Sports

Eurlings became an IOC Member at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013. He was appointed as the chairman of the IOC Communication Committee. [8] In January 2018 he resigned after a publicity related to the accusation of assault by a former girlfriend. IOC-President Thomas Bach regretted Eurlings’ decision to step back whilst praising his great commitment to reforms within the Swiss-based organization. 'That will make it easier for small countries to organize the Olympic Games’[9]

Out of court

The accusation was settled out of court. The settlement (by so called ‘transactie’) was without establishment of guilt by the Public Prosecution Service and without admission of guilt by Eurlings.[10][11] The settlement was entered into the Justicial Registration with a note, which formally is not a criminal record.[12] Details of the settlement were not released.

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	3 December 2010
	Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre	Holy See

References

1. (in Dutch) 'Camiel Eurlings volgt Peter Hartman op als topman KLM', Elsevier, 14 December 2012
2. (in Dutch) Eurlings opvolger Hartman bij KLM, RTL Nieuws, 14 December 2012
3. "Camiel Eurlings (KLM) is de beste bestuurder van 2014". MT.nl (in Dutch).
4. "Camiel Eurlings stapt op als topman bij KLM". NU.nl (in Dutch). 15 October 2014.
5. "Nieuwe baan Camiel Eurlings". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 4 June 2015.
6. "LinkedIn profile Camiel Eurlings". LinkedIn. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
7. 'Camiel Eurlings appointed as Director of Knighthood Capital Partners'
8. (in English) IOC Session elects nine new members
9. 'IOC regrets stepping down of ‘strong reformer’ Eurlings'
10. url= https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBZUT:2008:BF7634
11. url= https://www.nationaleombudsman.nl/nieuws/rapporten/2011136
12. 'Quote of former President of the Dutch Surpreme Court Mr. Corstens', Daily De Telegraaf, 23 March 2017

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Ir. C.M.P.S. (Camiel) Eurlings Parlement & Politiek