Municipality of Amsterdam Wiebes discussed his future career together with
Willibrord van Beek, at the time a member of the
House of Representatives. Van Beek advised taking up a position as alderman. Wiebes declined two offers from smaller municipalities which he deemed not challenging enough. Wiebes accepted the offer. As alderman in Amsterdam Wiebes dealt with problematic topics such as the municipal ICT, air quality, construction of the new Noord/Zuidlijn metro-line, and the local taxi-market. He entered office on 4 February. In May 2015, after an investigation of a committee of the
European Parliament on a tax deal the Netherlands made with
Starbucks, Wiebes stated that the Netherlands was not a
tax haven. During his time in office the problems at the Tax and Customs Administration remained, with a departure scheme unexpectedly leading too many experienced personnel to leave the organization. The modernization of the ICT also remained problematic. He was the only politician not to lose his position over the problems. On 26 October 2017, Wiebes was appointed Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in the
Third Rutte cabinet. During his term in office the extraction of natural gas in the Netherlands was stopped. However, there was criticism of his role in management of problems which were caused by the extraction of gas during decades. Peter de Waard, a journalist at
de Volkskrant described Wiebes as a realist and pragmatist, but also as one who at times makes big statements too easily. ==Personal life==