Derk Jan Eppink

Who is Derk Jan Eppink?

Derk Jan Eppink is a Dutch journalist, politician in Belgium and the Netherlands, and former cabinet secretary for European Commissioners Bolkestein and Kallas. In 2009, he was elected to the European Parliament for List Dedecker and sits on the European Conservatives and Reformists Group Executive.

Eppink was born in Steenderen, Gelderland. He studied Dutch law at the VU University in Amsterdam and thereafter European law and International Politics at the University of Amsterdam. In 1984 he moved to Brussels to become trainee at the European Commission. Thereafter he worked for 3 years as assistant to Members of the European Parliament.

In 1987, Derk Jan Eppink joined the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad where he was assigned to the foreign desk. He covered South Africa, worked as correspondent in Poland and became political editor reporting on Dutch politics in The Hague. In 1995, he moved to the Flemish newspaper De Standaard where he reported on Belgian politics. He wrote two books on his experiences in Belgian politics: Vreemde Buren, Avonturen van een Nederbelg.

In October 1999, he started working as member of cabinet of Dutch European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein.