Member of the House of Representatives De Hoop Scheffer was a member of the social liberal
Democrats 66 (D66) party from 1979 until 1982 until he became a member of the
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In the
1986 general election De Hoop Scheffer was elected to the
House of Representatives on 3 June 1986 and served as a frontbencher chairing the
parliamentary committees for Development Cooperation and for Foreign Affairs and was spokesperson for foreign affairs, European affairs,
NATO, development cooperation and
development aid.
Leader of Christian Democratic Appeal (1997–2001) After the
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and Parliamentary leader of the CDA in the House of Representatives
Enneüs Heerma announced that he was stepping down as leader and parliamentary leader following increasing criticism on his leadership, the CDA leadership approached De Hoop Scheffer as a candidate to succeed him. De Hoop Scheffer accepted and became leader and parliamentary leader on 27 March 1997. For the
1998 general election De Hoop Scheffer served as
lead candidate and the CDA suffered a loss, losing 5 seats and now had 29 seats in the House of Representatives. On 1 October 2001 De Hoop Scheffer announced that he was stepping down as leader and parliamentary leader following an internal power struggle with the
party chairman Marnix van Rij and that he would not stand for the election of 2002.
Dutch Foreign Minister The CDA won in the
2002 general elections and played the leading role in the formation of a new coalition government. The new Prime Minister
Jan Peter Balkenende appointed De Hoop Scheffer as foreign minister in his short-lived
first cabinet, a position he retained in the
second Balkenende cabinet after the
elections of 22 January 2003. In 2003, the foreign policy of the Netherlands was largely determined by De Hoop Scheffer and Balkenende. Its main foreign policy decision was to contribute to
Operation Iraqi Freedom, although its formulation ("political" but not "military" support) gave it an ambivalent character. However,
1,100 Dutch servicemen were deployed as part of the
Stabilisation Force Iraq in the southern province of
Al Muthanna from 2003 till 2005, and
two of them were killed in action. In 2003 Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was also the Chairman-in-Office of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
NATO Secretary General (2004–2009) He became the 11th
Secretary General of NATO on 5 January 2004, succeeding
Lord Robertson, who held the post from 1999 until 2003. The announcement was made on 22 September 2003. As Secretary General, De Hoop Scheffer urged NATO members to contribute more to NATO operations such as the
International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. He "informed a NATO conference that 'NATO troops have to guard pipelines that transport oil and gas that is directed for the West,' and more generally to protect sea routes used by tankers and other 'crucial infrastructure' of the energy system". On 21 June 2007, De Hoop Scheffer attended an economic conference in
Montreal where he encouraged Canada to continue its military mission in
Afghanistan past its 2009 withdrawal date. He said, "I think more time is necessary to create those conditions for reconstruction and development to go on." His visit coincided with the death of three more Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. "I know how dramatic it is if Canadian soldiers pay the highest price, but I still say, you are there for a good cause." On 21 July 2009 De Hoop Scheffer suffered a
heart attack. He underwent
angioplasty after which he was reported to be in stable condition. His successor,
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, took office on 1 August 2009. == Post-political career ==