Member of the House of Representatives (1998–2007) After the
1998 Dutch general election, Timmermans was elected as a member of the
House of Representatives for the
Labour Party (PvdA). He was also a member of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1998 to 2007.
State Secretary for European Affairs (2007–2010) After the
Dutch general election of 2006 the
Labour Party,
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the
ChristianUnion (CU) formed a coalition agreement which resulted in the
formation of the
Cabinet Balkenende IV. Timmermans became
Undersecretary for
Foreign Affairs and was responsible for the co-ordination of government policy towards the
European Union, and was conferred the diplomatic title of Minister of European Affairs during international visits. A major theme of his time as
Undersecretary for
European Affairs was to increase support for European integration. This was done both by seeking greater influence of citizens on European policies and by improving communication and public perception; besides citizens the aim was that education should have also be more involved with Europe. The
Treaty of Lisbon was signed whilst he was
Undersecretary, before which Timmermans and
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende successfully lobbied to secure a greater role for national parliaments in
European Union decision-making processes. In February 2010,
NATO officially requested the Netherlands to extend its military involvement in
Task Force Uruzgan. The
Labour Party strongly opposed the extension of the mission and on 23 February 2010 the
Cabinet Balkenende IV fell after the
Labour Party officially withdrew its support with all
Labour Party Cabinet members resigning.
Return as a Member of the House of Representatives (2010–2012) Following the withdrawal of the
Labour Party from the coalition government, the
Cabinet Balkenende IV remained as a
Demissionary Cabinet until the
Dutch general election of 2010. Following a coalition agreement between the
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the
Party for Freedom (PVV), the
Labour Party became the official opposition. Timmermans was returned to the
House of Representatives, being installed on 17 June 2010. During his second term as a
Member of the House of Representatives he served as Parliamentary Spokesman of the
Labour Party for Foreign Affairs and European Affairs. Labour politician
Ronald Plasterk accused Timmermans in 2016 of doing nothing for half a year in order to acquire this responsibility, which had initially been refused because of his previous office. He declined to comment.
Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012–2014) John Kerry at the
2014 Nuclear Security Summit Jean-Claude Juncker and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, 7 January 2016 After the fall of the
first Rutte cabinet, the
2012 Dutch general election resulted in the
Labour Party and the
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy negotiating a coalition agreement which led to the formation of the
second Rutte cabinet and Timmermans being appointed
Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking office on 5 November 2012. On 24 and 25 March 2014 the
Netherlands hosted the
2014 Nuclear Security Summit, where Timmermans as Minister of Foreign Affairs was responsible for welcoming all attending representatives. In May 2014, Timmermans condemned
Geert Wilders' anti-Islam sticker, saying that "The Netherlands cannot be held responsible for the adolescent behaviour of a single parliamentarian." Timmermans said that
Saudi Arabia is "deeply offended by the sticker action." On 17 July 2014, passenger flight
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over
Ukraine resulting in the deaths of 194
Dutch citizens. The next day Timmermans flew to
Kyiv to meet with
President Petro Poroshenko and
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to discuss the matter, following which, on 21 July 2014, Timmermans addressed the
United Nations Security Council in
New York. Timmermans delivered an emotional speech which was widely praised by the international community. His speech called for Dutch Prime Minister
Rutte and the
International Community to help bring the victims home and start an investigation to make sure that those responsible are brought to justice. He states: "I call on the international community, on the Security Council, on anyone with influence on the situation on the ground: allow us to bring the victims’ remains home to their loved ones without any further delay. They deserve to be home." A statement in his speech about the careless way with which the local population was said to have treated the bodies of the victims appeared to be imprecise. Timmermans acknowledged this later on in a letter to the Dutch parliament. In August 2014, Timmermans called for an independent investigation into
Israel's actions during the
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. In a speech at the
Israel Council on Foreign Relations Timmermans explains the interconnectedness between Israel and Europe. These similarities, culture-wise and governmentally, mean that Europe holds Israel to a higher standard: namely, as a European country rather than a Middle Eastern country. While this double standard could be perceived as antisemitic, Timmermans points out that "there is no way we can disentangle the destiny of Israel from the destiny of Europe". In pointing out this connection, Timmermans alludes to the responsibility that Europe has to maintain positive relations with Israel. While recognizing how young people in Europe are facing "rising disenchantment" to democracy, he calls on the European community to "help us find new, innovative ways of translating this inherent human necessity to be heard, to influence one's environment to be part of the decision making process". He believes the Netherlands should help fortify security guarantees for Israel, but cautions that Israel must be willing to give Palestinians full and equal rights in the West Bank and in Gaza.
European Commission Juncker Commission (2014–2019) In September 2014, the
Dutch Government nominated Frans Timmermans as its prospective member of the
European Commission under President-elect
Jean-Claude Juncker. On 1 November 2014, Timmermans took office as
First Vice President in Juncker's European Commission, and served as President Juncker's first deputy and right-hand man. Timmermans' portfolio comprised Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, Rule of Law and
Charter of Fundamental Rights. In May 2016, Timmermans said that
Erdoğan's
Turkey "has made impressive progress, particularly in recent weeks, on meeting the benchmarks of its
visa liberalisation roadmap. There is still work to be done as a matter of urgency but if Turkey sustains the progress made, they can meet the remaining benchmarks." Timmermans repeatedly criticized
Poland's
judiciary reform, saying that "these laws considerably increase the systemic threats to the rule of law in Poland." In April 2019, the commission had launched a new infringement proceedings
against Poland over
independence of judges. Timmermans said: "The new disciplinary regime undermines the judicial independence of Polish judges by not offering necessary guarantees to protect them from political control, as required by the Court of Justice of the European Union." Timmermans supported the
mandatory migrant quotas within the EU. He said that people coming to the EU "are fellow human beings who, I think, deserve to seek refuge when they flee the barbarism that the
jihadists are inflicting upon them."
Unsuccessful candidacy for the European Commission presidency In October 2018, Frans Timmermans announced his candidacy for the office of
President of the European Commission ahead of the
2019 European election. In December 2018, during the Congress of Lisbon, the
Party of European Socialists acclaimed him as its candidate. He was formally nominated as the PES Common Candidate in Madrid in February 2019. Timmermans said he intended to challenge the dominance of the
EPP by building a left coalition in the
European Parliament. His party finished second in the election behind the EPP, but after having discussed the parliamentary lead candidates
Manfred Weber, Timmermans and occasionally also
Margrethe Vestager of the three largest European parties in the parliament several times, the
European Council initially intended to nominate Timmermans for the office of commission president mostly because of Weber's alleged missing experience on the international stage. However, when governments from Eastern Europe protested this decision because of their strong opposition against Timmerman's fight on behalf of the commission for the rule of law and against reforms which are prospected to undermine it in these countries, the Council almost unanimously proposed German Defense Minister
Ursula von der Leyen as a compromise candidate in July 2019, a controversial decision among many members of the European Parliament, as she had neither been running for the office nor taken part in the European election, while such a process had informally been agreed as the gold standard since 2014. Therefore, the sole abstention with her nomination came from Germany themselves because part of the German coalition government did not accept such a move. Yet, von der Leyen was subsequently elected with a narrow majority by the European Parliament, promised to argue for a better implementation and formalisation of the desired parliamentary process in the future and announced that lead candidates Timmermans and Vestager would become vice-presidents in her commission.
Von der Leyen Commission (2019–2023) Headquarters In 2019,
President of the European Commission,
Ursula von der Leyen requested Frans Timmermans continue in his role as First Vice President while also designating him as one of the three new
Executive Vice Presidents of the European Commission. As Executive Vice President, Timmermans was responsible for the
European Green Deal. Timmermans was also responsible for a European Green Deal and a European Climate Law in their first hundred days in office. In October 2021, Timmermans suggested "the best answer" to the
2021 global energy crisis is "to reduce our reliance on
fossil fuels." He said those blaming the European Green Deal were doing so "for perhaps ideological reasons or sometimes economic reasons in protecting their vested interests."
Euractiv reported that Timmermans told the European Parliament in Strasbourg "that “about one fifth” of the energy price increase can be attributed to rising CO2 prices on the EU's
carbon market." in Beijing, 4 July 2023 In July 2023 China and the European Union held the Fourth EU-China High Level Environment and Climate Dialogue. The European delegation to China was led by Frans Timmermans. Both sides declared they will continue to cooperate in stopping
climate change,
biodiversity loss and
pollution. Both sides agreed to ensure the success of
COP28, implement the
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, advance the
High Seas Treaty, cooperate in
water policy, reach a global agreement on
plastic pollution by 2024. Both sides also agreed to support
circular economy.
GL-PvdA leader (2023–2025) In July 2023, a
snap election was called in the Netherlands after the collapse of the
fourth Rutte cabinet. After members of the
Labour Party and
GroenLinks voted to contest the election on a joint list, Timmermans declared his intention to become
lead candidate (
lijsttrekker) for the alliance and to succeed
Mark Rutte as
Prime Minister of the Netherlands. His candidacy was met with widespread approval from both parties, including Labour Party leader
Attje Kuiken and GroenLinks leader
Jesse Klaver. On 22 August 2023, during a joint
GroenLinks–PvdA party meeting, Timmermans was confirmed as lead candidate with 92 percent of the vote. He resigned from the European Commission on the same day, and was replaced in his role as Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal by fellow vice president
Maroš Šefčovič. The
2023 Dutch general election was held on 22 November 2023, and GL–PvdA ultimately finished in second place, with 25 seats, behind
Geert Wilders'
anti-immigration Party for Freedom (PVV). Timmermans ruled out working with the PVV, remarking that "we will never form a
coalition with parties that pretend that
asylum seekers are the source of all misery". He was sworn into the House of Representatives on 6 December, and he has been serving as the
parliamentary leader of GL–PvdA since. Along with
Mirjam Bikker of the
Christian Union, Timmermans carried forward a bill to impose harsher penalties in cases of
hate crimes, including acts of violence or insults motivated by discrimination. It was passed by an overwhelming majority of the House in December 2024. After the fall of the
Schoof cabinet, Timmermans was elected on 20 June 2025 to lead another joint GL–PvdA list for the
snap elections in October 2025. He was the only candidate for the position and received 78.7% of the votes by members of the parties. After an exit poll projected that GL–PvdA would lose five seats compared to the 2023 election, Timmermans announced his resignation as party leader. ==Personal life==