Early career Since 1986 Geens has become a professor at the KU Leuven. In that capacity, he was appointed by the Belgian government as the scientific coordinator for the codification of the Belgian laws on companies and financial accounts, which culminated in a new Belgian company code in 2001. In 2009 Geens was a candidate for
rector of the KU Leuven but lost out to
Mark Waer. Geens is a co-founder of an independent
lawfirm in Belgium with offices in
Antwerp,
Brussels and
Kortrijk.
Political career From 2007 to 2009 Geens served as chief of staff to the Flemish minister-president
Kris Peeters. When
Steven Vanackere resigned in March 2013 as Minister of Finance, Geens was appointed as his successor. In October 2014 Geens became Minister of Justice in the
Michel Government. In addition, he chaired the
European People's Party’s Justice Ministers Meeting. During his time in office, Geens steered through the legislative process a 2015 law which invalidated passports and identity cards of people authorities believe plan to go and fight for militant Islamist organizations in the Middle East. In the wake of the
2016 Brussels bombings, both Geens and fellow cabinet member
Jan Jambon offered their resignation to Prime Minister Michel over lapses; both were refused. As part of the
government formation, Geens was appointed by
King Philippe of Belgium to explore possibilities to form a
coalition government in early 2020. ==Other activities==