Steven van Weyenberg

Steven Peter Robert Albert Van Weyenberg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsteːvə(ɱ) vɑɱ ˈʋɛiə(m)ˌbɛr(ə)x]; born 21 March 1973) is a Belgian-born Dutch politician of the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) party. He served on the House of Representatives and occupied several ministerial posts.

Career

Van Weyenberg studied economics and international relations, and he worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.

He joined D66 in 1994 and held a seat in the House of Representatives between 2012 and 2023, focusing on finance and social affairs. He assisted his party during negotiations as part of the formation of the third Rutte cabinet, working on reforms of the tax system. These included changes to the home mortgage interest deduction, an increase in the value-added tax rate, and the creation of new environmental taxes. As a member of parliament, Van Weyenberg proposed to abolish government benefits in favor of a single allowance following the childcare benefits scandal, in which citizens had been falsely accused of fraud by the Tax and Customs Administration. He temporarily left the House of Representatives to serve as State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management in the demissionary third Rutte cabinet from 10 August 2021 until 10 January 2022. He succeeded Stientje van Veldhoven, who had stepped down to move to another job. When an investigation found that pollution from the Tata Steel IJmuiden factory had resulted in adverse health effects for neighbors, Van Weyenberg said the factory would not have a future without major changes.

Following his return to the parliament, he worked with GroenLinks–PvdA and the Christian Union on a set of measures to increase purchasing power amongst a high inflation rate. In August 2023, ahead of a November general election, he announced he would not seek another term. He again filled a vacancy in the demissionary fourth Rutte cabinet starting 6 December 2023, becoming State Secretary for Culture and Media. He switched that position for Minister of Finance on 12 January 2024 to succeed Sigrid Kaag.

Notes

References

1. Fourth Rutte cabinet
2. Ministry of Finance (Netherlands)
3. Fleur Gräper
4. List of ministers of finance of the Netherlands
5. Rob Jetten
6. Cabinet of the Netherlands
7. Eurogroup
8. Democrats 66
9. 2021–2022 Dutch cabinet formation
10. Hoorn
11. Third Rutte cabinet
12. Eelco Heinen
13. Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
14. List of current finance ministers
15. Vivianne Heijnen
16. List of members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2017–2021
17. List of ministers of education of the Netherlands
18. List of members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2021–2023
19. Anne-Marijke Podt
20. List of ministers of infrastructure of the Netherlands