These former students will join the new cabinet

Three alumni are likely to appear in the official photograph of the Jetten I cabinet on 23 February. Nathalie van Berkel (D66), Vincent Karremans (VVD) and Jo-Annes de Bat (CDA) studied at Erasmus University and are prospective ministers in the new cabinet.

Former RSC president Vincent Karremans will become Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management. Karremans studied Corporate Law and Fiscal Economics in Rotterdam and was active in local politics as a municipal councillor and alderman. In recent years he was State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sport and Minister of Economic Affairs. During his student days he was president of the RSC and founded magnet.me, a platform that matches students and graduates looking for work with employers.

D66 member Nathalie van Berkel studied Law at Erasmus University and will become State Secretary for Finance. In recent years she was a board member at the Employee Insurance Agency. Before that she worked in various roles for the municipalities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The prospective State Secretary for Climate and Green Growth is Jo-Annes de Bat. The CDA member studied Public Administration in Rotterdam. He has long been active in politics in the province of Zeeland. He served as a municipal councillor and alderman in Goes and has been a member of the Provincial Executive of Zeeland since 2015. In 2019 and 2023 he was the CDA’s lead candidate in the Provincial Council elections.

Two other prospective ministers also have a background at Erasmus University. After studying Computer Science, Economics and International Relations in Amsterdam, Eelco Heinen completed a postdoctoral professional programme in financial economic policy at EUR. The VVD member will once again become Minister of Finance in the new cabinet. In the late 1990s, Hans Vijlbrief (D66) briefly worked at Erasmus University as a part-time director of the research centre for financial economic policy. Vijlbrief is the prospective Minister of Social Affairs and Employment.