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Silvio Erkens

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Silvio Erkens
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
31 March 2021
Personal details
Born
Silvio Peter Augustinus Erkens[1]

(1990-08-07) 7 August 1990 (age 34)
Heerlen, Netherlands
Political partyPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Children1
Alma mater
OccupationConsultant
Websitesowiesosilvio.nl

Silvio Peter Augustinus Erkens (born 7 August 1990) is a Dutch politician, who has held a seat in the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election. He is a member of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He previously worked as a consultant.

Early life and career

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Erkens was born in 1990 in the Limburg city Heerlen and grew up in nearby Kerkrade as an only child.[2][3] Both of his parents worked for Statistics Netherlands.[4] Erkens played water polo in his youth and received his vwo diploma from the Kerkrade secondary school Rolduc College.[3][5] He studied political science at Radboud University Nijmegen starting in 2009 and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science.[2] While a student, he served as vice-chair of the Nijmegen chapter of the Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy, the VVD's independent youth wing.[6] Erkens subsequently studied international relations (MSc) for one year at the London School of Economics.[2]

He worked for Boston Consulting Group in the years 2013–16, initially as a junior consultant and later as a senior consultant. Erkens then studied at Columbia Business School, located in New York City, and during his studies also worked for a few months for the executive office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He returned to Boston Consulting Group in 2018 as a project manager after obtaining an MBA.[1] Erkens left that company in 2020.[2]

Politics

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Erkens joined the VVD while a student.[4] He was campaign manager of the Limburg VVD during the 2019 provincial elections, and he was among the writers of the party's election program for Limburg.[3][7] Erkens also appeared 19th on the VVD's party list but was not elected to the States of Limburg due to his party receiving five seats.[8]

Erkens was the VVD's 18th candidate in the 2021 general election and helped write the election program.[3] He was elected with 4,043 preference votes and was sworn in to the House of Representatives on 31 March.[9] His specializations were climate, energy policy, and the Dutch Emissions Authority. In the House, Erkens said that Tata Steel's blast furnace in IJmuiden should become more sustainable. He argued for financially assisting the company and for partially nationalizing it if absolutely necessary.[10] He has also been an advocate of nuclear power to mitigate climate change.[11] In 2021, a motion by Erkens and Renske Leijten (SP) was adopted to investigate distance norms for new wind turbines to prevent nuisance to residents, and he supported a halt on their construction in the meantime.[12][13]

While global energy prices were steeply increasing, Erkens and Henri Bontenbal (CDA) proposed five measures to relieve consumers to Minister for Climate and Energy Policy Rob Jetten in October 2022. Their recommendations included mandating energy suppliers to offer fixed contracts, forbidding them to give discounts to new customers, and subjecting them to a yearly stress test as well as strengthening consumer protections in case of bankruptcy. The VVD and CDA had liberalized the energy market as part of the second Balkenende cabinet.[14] At the same time, the Netherlands tried to lower its reliance on Russian gas due to its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. To increase energy independence, Erkens presented a bill in February 2023 to extract more gas domestically from the North Sea even if it would be more expensive than importing.[15]

Following his re-election in November 2023, Erkens's portfolio was expanded to include climate, energy policy, defense, elections, and constitutional matters.[16] The House passed a motion by Erkens in February 2024 urging the government to plan for the construction of two nuclear reactors in addition to the two already in progress.[17] He also advocated for an electoral threshold of 2% in general elections, arguing that reducing the number of parliamentary groups, then at 15, would streamline debates and decision-making. Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Judith Uitermark (NSC) opposed the proposal, and she stated that she would not incorporate it into her upcoming electoral reform.[18][19]

In August 2024, the National Political Index concluded that Erkens was the third most diligent House member from installation in 2023 to July 2024.[20][21]

Committee assignments

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  • Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
  • Contact group Belgium
  • Contact group Germany
  • Contact group United Kingdom
  • Committee for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
  • Committee for Finance
  • Committee for Infrastructure and Water Management
  • Public Expenditure committee[2][22]

Personal life

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He lives in Kerkrade and has been married to his wife Samita, who is part of an Indian family residing in Switzerland, since 2020. They met each other in New York City and have a daughter.[2][4][23][24] Erkens is a kickboxer.[3]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Silvio Erkens
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2021 House of Representatives People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 18 4,043 34 Won [25]
2023 House of Representatives People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 11 6,472 24 Won [26]

References

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  1. ^ a b "S.P.A. (Silvio) Erkens MSc". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Silvio Erkens". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Goossen, Hans (1 December 2020). "Kerkradenaar Silvio Erkens (30) schiet als komeet omhoog op VVD-lijst" [Kerkrade resident Silvio Erkens (30) rises on the VVD's party list like a comet]. De Limburger (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Goossen, Hans (22 May 2022). "Tweede Kamerlid Silvio Erkens (31) uit Kerkrade waakt voor de Haagse bubbel: 'Ik vind de afrekencultuur heel vermoeiend'" [Member of parliament Silvio Erkens (31) from Kerkrade guards against The Hague bubble: 'I find the harsh culture exhausting']. De Limburger (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  5. ^ Erkens, Silvio (7 March 2019). "Lef tonen, voor Kerkrade" [Show courage, for Kerkrade]. VVD Kirchroa (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Juwelier Kamerbeek" [Jewelry Kamerbeek]. De Gelderlander (in Dutch). 7 April 2012.
  7. ^ "Limburgs Lef!" [Limburg Guts!] (PDF). VVD Limburg (in Dutch). p. 1. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Uitslag provincie Limburg provinciale statenverkiezing 2019" [Results Limburg province 2019 provincial elections] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 25 March 2019. p. 22. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021" [Results general election 17 March 2021] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 26 March 2021. pp. 16 and 185. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  10. ^ "VVD en CDA opperen nationalisatie Tata Steel 'in uiterste geval'" [VVD and CDA plead for nationalization Tata Steel 'in most extreme case']. Het Parool (in Dutch). ANP. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  11. ^ Joosten, Carla (20 November 2021). "Politici om in de gaten te houden" [Politicians to watch]. Elsevier Weekblad (in Dutch). Vol. 77, no. 46. pp. 34–35.
  12. ^ Pieterse, Trix (10 March 2022). "Wie bepaalt waar ze komen en hoeveel leveren ze op? Wat je moet weten over windturbines" [Who decides where they come and how much they produce? What you have to know about wind turbines]. NH Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Nieuwe regels voor windmolens nodig: 'Altijd gebrom alsof de wasmachine op zolder draait'" ['Always buzzing as if the washing machine in the attic is turned on']. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 5 February 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  14. ^ "VVD, CDA: verplicht aanbod jaarcontract en verbied overstapbonus energiebedrijf" [VVD and CDA: Obliged to offer one-year contract and prohibit bonus for changing energy supplier]. NOS (in Dutch). 11 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  15. ^ Nieuwenhuis, Marcia (20 February 2023). "Koerswijziging VVD: Gas oppompen uit Noordzee, ook al is het duurder" [Change of course by VVD: Extracting gas from the North Sea, even if it is more expensive]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Portefeuilleverdeling" [Portfolio allocation]. People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  17. ^ "Tweede Kamer wil vier grote kerncentrales in plaats van twee" [House of Representatives wants four major nuclear power plants instead of two]. NOS (in Dutch). 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  18. ^ Canters, Thom (9 October 2024). "VVD wil kiesdrempel van 2 procent invoeren, maar leidt dat ook echt tot een effectiever landsbestuur?" [VVD wants to introduce electoral threshold of 2 percent, but will that actually lead to more effective decision-making?]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch).
  19. ^ "Minister Uitermark (BZK) tegen kiesdrempel van 2 procent" [Minister Uitermark (BZK) opposed to electoral threshold of 2 percent]. NOS (in Dutch). 10 October 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  20. ^ Silvio Erkens, politiekeindex.nl, 27 augustus 2024
  21. ^ Drie ijverigste Kamerleden: 'verrast' en ambitieus, hpdetijd.nl, 27 augustus 2024
  22. ^ "Silvio Erkens". VVD (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  23. ^ Goossen, Hans (21 September 2021). "Limburgs Kamerlid Silvio Erkens debuteert op uitgeklede Prinsjesdag" [Limburg House member Silvio Erkens debuts on stripped-down Prinsjesdag]. De Limburger (in Dutch). Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Studio Energie Live met... Silvio Erkens, Laetitia Ouillet en Menno Snel" [Studio Energie Live with... Silvio Erkens, Laetitia Ouillet, and Menno Snel] (Podcast) (in Dutch). Studio Energie. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022 – via SoundCloud.
  25. ^ "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 15–16. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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