Mr. Harry van Bommel MP

Mr. Harry van Bommel MP
Country: 
The Netherlands
Parliament: 
Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal)
Party: 
Socialist Party (Socialistische Partij, SP)
Last Election: 
2012
Upcoming Election: 
2016
Member of the following: 

Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Committee on European Affairs,

Gender Multiparty Initiative.

Other current affiliations: 

Member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (as of November 2006),

Member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (as of November 2006),

Member of the committee of recommendations for the solidarity organization ‘Lokaal Mondiaal’,

Member of the committee of recommendations for the organization ‘Campagne Tegen de Muur in Palestina’ (Campaign Against the Wall in Palestine),

Member of Parliamentarians for Global Action,

Member of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Disarmament,

Member of the committee of recommendations for the organization ‘Los Cacharros’, which works with street kids in Peru,

Member of the committee of recommendations for the RIS-project, which works on the educational system in the inlands of Suriname,

Ambassador of the development organization Healthet TPO.

Previous other affiliations: 

Member of the Benelux Interparliamentary Consultative Council (February 2003 – November 2006),

Member of the temporary Commission for Decisions on Military Missions (14 April 1999 – 17 October 2000),

Deputy-Chair standing committee for European Affairs (10 April 2007 – 21 November 2012),

Member of COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union) on behalf of the Dutch House of Represenatives.

Regions of interest: 
Bio: 

Mr. Van Bommel has been a member of the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) for the Dutch Socialist Party since 1998. Before his election, he has been politically active in the city of Amsterdam, for the party bureau and for its faction in the House of Representatives.

Prior to going into politics, Mr. Van Bommel trained to be a teacher of the Dutch and English language. He also completed a degree in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam.

As a parliamentarian, Mr. Van Bommel is known for asking critical questions regarding the Dutch membership to the EU and the role of the EU in the Netherlands. Furthermore, he has a great interest in foreign affairs, which is demonstrated by his extensive travel. Mr. Van Bommel was part of an election observation mission to Moscow in December 2007 and travelled to Iraq 2001 to assess the consequences of the sanctions imposed by the United Nations. His fervent efforts to get a conviction for Dutch national Frans van A. – a businessman accused of delivering chemical agents to Iraq which were consequently used in attacks with chemical weapons– resulted in a park being named after Mr. Van Bommel in the Iraqi town of Rezgari.