Frits Bolkestein Quotes

Frederik "Frits" Bolkestein is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy .

Bolkestein a corporate director by occupation, was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the Dutch general election of 1977 taking office on 16 January 1978. He served as Undersecretary for Foreign Trade from 5 November 1982, until 14 July 1986, in the Cabinet Lubbers I. And again a Member of the House of Representatives from 3 June 1986, until 24 September 1988, when he became Minister of Defence from 24 September 1988, until 7 November 1989, in the Cabinet Lubbers II. He again returned to the House of Representatives on 14 September 1989, and nine months later on 1 May 1990, he became the Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives and the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. He served in this position for eight years until 30 July 1998.

From 15 September 1999, until 22 November 2004, he was the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. In the European Commission, Bolkestein was responsible for internal market taxation and customs union issues. Some of the more politically sensitive items in his portfolio were the draft community patent regulation and the draft directives on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions and services in the internal market, the so-called "Bolkestein Directive", which has become the focus of heated debate.

✵ 4. April 1933

Frits Bolkestein: 3 quotes 0 likes

Famous Frits Bolkestein Quotes

“The USA will remain the only superpower. China is becoming an economic giant. Europe is being Islamicized.”

Frits Bolkestein

Address at the opening of courses at the University of Leiden (2004), as quoted in "Islamic Europe?" http://web.archive.org/web/20041010004408/http://www.theweeklystandard.com:80/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/685ozxcq.asp (4 October 2004), by Christopher Caldwell, The Weekly Standard
2000s