He studied sociology at the
University of Utrecht. In 1968, he joined
Democrats 66. From June 1970 to June 1971, he was a councilor in the province of
Gelderland. From 1971 to 1977, he was a member of the
Senate, the upper house of the
States General of the Netherlands, from 1974 as the chairman of his party's faction. From 1999 to 2005, he was involved in lobbying activities in Brussels, focusing on environmental protection, and in 2006, he became the CEO of the GLOBE Europe institute. He was awarded the
Order of the Netherlands Lion (1991). == References ==