Political career From 1984 to 1998, Gijs de Vries was a
Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for three consecutive terms. From 1994 to 1998, he was chairman of the
group of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. De Vries resigned from the European Parliament to become
State Secretary for the
Interior and Kingdom Relations under the
Second Kok cabinet.
EU Anti-Terrorism Coordinator, 2004–2007 De Vries served as the
European Union's
anti-terrorism coordinator from March 2004 to March 2007. In this capacity, he worked for
Javier Solana in the
Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCCM)
pillar. Solana outlined his duties as being to streamline, organise and co-ordinate the EU and its members fight against terrorism. De Vries stood down from the post in March 2007, citing personal reasons, although it is commonly understood that the position's mandate did not have the necessary operational powers, as well as an overall reluctance within
member states to supply information regarding anti-terror activities, even though the member states fully supported the establishment of the anti-terrorism coordinator after the
2004 Madrid train bombings. In September 2007, MEPs called for the post to be filled, having been vacant for six months, as well as for it to be given real powers to carry out the post's tasks. On 20 September 2007, the Belgian
Gilles de Kerchove was appointed to succeed De Vries in the post.
Later career As of September 2008, De Vries was chairman of the European Security Research and Innovation Forum (ESRIF). Prior to 2010 De Vries had been a member of the
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). However, due to dissatisfaction at the VVD's decision to form the
First Rutte cabinet, a
minority government with the support of the
Party for Freedom (PVV) led by nationalist
Geert Wilders he left the party and joined the social-liberal
Democrats 66 (D66) party then in opposition. In 2025, the European Commission appointed De Vries as member of its Ukraine Facility’s audit board, chaired by
Marek Belka. ==Decorations==