Gijs de Vries facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gijs de Vries
Member of the European Court of Auditors
In office 1 January 2011 – 1 January 2014
Member of the Court of Audit
In office 1 January 2008 – 1 January 2011
European Union Counter-terrorism Coordinator
In office 25 March 2004 – 1 March 2007
Secretary-General	Javier Solana
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Gilles de Kerchove
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 23 May 2002 – 8 October 2002
Parliamentary group	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations
In office 3 August 1998 – 22 July 2002
Prime Minister	Wim Kok
Preceded by	Tonny van de Vondervoort Jacob Kohnstamm (as State Secretaries for the Interior)
Succeeded by	Rob Hessing
Member of the European Parliament
In office 24 July 1984 – 3 August 1998
Parliamentary group	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group (1994–1998) Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group (1985–1994) Liberal and Democratic Group (1984–1985)
Constituency	Netherlands
Personal details
Born	Gijsbert Marius de Vries (1956-02-22) 22 February 1956 (age 69) New York City, New York, United States
Nationality	American, Dutch
Political party	Democrats 66 (since 2010)
Other political affiliations	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (1974–2010)
Residences	Oxford, England
Alma mater	Leiden University (Bachelor of Social Science, Master of Social Science)
Occupation	Politician · Diplomat · Civil servant · Economist · Researcher · Author · Professor

Gijsbert Marius "Gijs" de Vries (born on February 22, 1956) is a Dutch-American politician and diplomat. He has held important roles in both the Netherlands and the European Union. He served as a State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Netherlands from 1998 to 2002. Later, he became the European Union Counter-terrorism Coordinator from 2004 to 2007.

Gijs de Vries was a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) until 2010. After that, he joined the Democrats 66 (D66) party.

Gijs de Vries's Political Journey

Gijs de Vries has had a long and interesting career in politics. He started by working in the European Parliament.

Working in the European Parliament

From 1984 to 1998, Gijs de Vries was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). This means he helped make laws and decisions for the European Union. He served for three terms, which is a long time! From 1994 to 1998, he was even the leader of a group called the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party within the Parliament.

Becoming a State Secretary

After his time in the European Parliament, Gijs de Vries returned to the Netherlands. He became a State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations. In this role, he helped manage important things inside the country. This included topics like how the government works and how different parts of the country are connected.

Role as EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator

One of his most important jobs was being the European Union's anti-terrorism coordinator. He held this position from March 2004 to March 2007. His main task was to help organize and coordinate how the EU and its member countries fought against terrorism. He worked closely with Javier Solana, who was a top EU official.

Why He Left the Coordinator Role

Gijs de Vries stepped down from this role in March 2007. He said it was for personal reasons. However, many people understood that the job didn't have enough power to really make big changes. Also, some EU countries were not always willing to share information about their anti-terror activities. Even so, the countries fully supported having an anti-terrorism coordinator after the 2004 Madrid train bombings. After he left, Gilles de Kerchove took over the position in September 2007.

Changing Political Parties

Before 2010, Gijs de Vries was a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). However, he disagreed with a decision made by the VVD party. They decided to form a government with the support of another party, the Party for Freedom (PVV). Because of this disagreement, he left the VVD party. He then joined the Democrats 66 (D66) party, which is a social-liberal party.

Awards and Honors

Gijs de Vries has received special recognition for his work.

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	1 March 2007	Elevated from Knight (10 December 2002)

He was made an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands. This is a special honor given to people who have done great things for their country. He first received a lower rank in this order in 2002, and then was given the higher rank of Officer in 2007.

See also

In Spanish: Gijs de Vries para niños