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Agnes Jongerius

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Agnes Jongerius
MEP
Jongerius in 2020
Member of the European Parliament
In office
1 July 2014 – 15 July 2024
ConstituencyNetherlands
Personal details
Born
Agnes Jongerius

(1960-11-04) 4 November 1960 (age 64)
De Meern, Netherlands
Political partyLabour Party
Alma materUtrecht University
Websiteagnesjongerius.pvda.nl

Agnes Jongerius[a] (born 4 November 1960) is a Dutch trade unionist and politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands between July 2014 and July 2024. She is a member of the Labour Party, part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Between 1987 and 2012 she worked for the Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, a trade union federation. She was chair of the federation between 2005 and 2012.

Career

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Jongerius was born in the De Meern neighbourhood in the city of Utrecht in 1960.[1] Her father worked as a gardener.[2] She went to the Bonifatius Lyceum, a gymnasium in the city of Utrecht between 1973 and 1979. In that latter year she went to Utrecht University to study social-economic history, graduating cum laude in 1988.[1]

Union leaders Jaap Smit (CNV), Bob van der Wal (MHP), and Agnes Jongerius (FNV) with prime minister Mark Rutte in 2012

One year before her graduation she started working for the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV). She became a board member of the Transport Workers' Union, an FNV member organization, in 1997, and she started serving as an FNV board member and collective agreement coordinator in 2002. Jongerius was appointed vice chair two years later.[2] She was the FNV's first female chair between 25 May 2005 and 23 June 2012, and she was vice chair of the International Trade Union Confederation for the last five of those years.[1][2] In 2009, feminist magazine Opzij named Jongerius the most powerful Dutch woman of the year, citing her role at FNV during the economic crisis.[3]

Political career

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In September 2013 information surfaced that Jongerius wanted to become the new mayor of Utrecht, to succeed Aleid Wolfsen. Jongerius did not want to respond to the claims.[4] Jan van Zanen was later named mayor.

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2024

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Jongerius occupied the second place on the Labour Party list for the European Parliament elections of 2014, after Paul Tang.[5] She was elected to the European Parliament in May 2014, and she served as the party's spokesperson for social affairs and employment. Her focus was on decreasing the amount of flexible employment contracts in favor of fixed ones.[2]

In the European Parliament Jongerius was vice-chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).[6] In addition to her committee assignments, Jongerius was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Trade Unions,[7] the URBAN Intergroup[8] and the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights.[9]

Following the 2019 elections, Jongerius was part of a cross-party working group in charge of drafting the European Parliament's four-year work program on digitization.[10] She decided not to run for re-election in June 2024, and her term ended on 15 July 2024.[6][11] During her membership of the European Parliament, Jongerius served as a supervisory board member of PostNL (2013–18) and the Atria Institute (2014–24), which is specialized in gender equality and women's history. She was chairwoman of the latter.[2]

Personal life

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Jongerius is a Catholic, and her partner is VPRO journalist Ger Jochems. While an MEP, she lived in Utrecht.[2]

Electoral history

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A (possibly incomplete) overview of Dutch elections Jongerius participated in
Election Party Candidate number Votes Result
2014 European Parliament election Labour Party 2 Elected
2018 municipal elections in Utrecht Labour Party 19 Not elected
2019 European Parliament election Labour Party 2 109,987 Elected
2022 municipal elections in Utrecht Labour Party 38 99 Not elected

Notes

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  1. ^ The phrase Agnes Jongerius is pronounced [ˈɑxnɛ ɕɔŋˈɣeːrijʏs]. The words in isolation are pronounced [ˈɑxnɛs] and [jɔŋˈɣeːrijʏs].

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Drs. A.M. (Agnes) Jongerius" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Jongerius, Agnes (26 April 2024). "Vertrekkend PvdA'er Agnes Jongerius: 'In Brussel moet je je best doen om eens een gewoon mens te spreken'" [Departing Agnes Jongerius of the Labour Party: 'In Brussels, you have to go out of your way to talk to a normal person']. Het Financieele Dagblad (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Ria Cats. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  3. ^ "'Jongerius machtigste vrouw van Nederland'" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  4. ^ Tom Reijner (20 September 2013). "'Agnes Jongerius (PvdA) wil burgemeester van Utrecht worden'" (in Dutch). Elsevier. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  5. ^ Laura Klompenhouwer (22 January 2014). "Agnes Jongerius PvdA-kandidaat Europese verkiezingen". NRC. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Agnes Jongerius". European Parliament. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  7. ^ Members European Parliament Intergroup on Trade Unions.
  8. ^ Members URBAN Intergroup.
  9. ^ Members European Parliament Intergroup on LGBTI Rights.
  10. ^ Florian Eder (June 13, 2019), POLITICO Brussels Playbook, presented by Google: Madrid’s moment — Parliament working groups sneak peak[sic — Happy birthday, GDPR] Politico Europe.
  11. ^ "Proces-verbaal centraal stembureau uitslag verkiezing Europees Parlement Model P22-1" [Central electoral council report of the results of the election of the European Parliament Model P22-1] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 19 June 2024. p. 11. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
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