Raoul Boucke
Boucke in 2014
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
31 March 2021 – 5 December 2023
Personal details
Born
Raoul Marc Boucke

(1975-11-01) 1 November 1975
Paramaribo, Suriname
Political partyDemocrats 66
Alma materDelft University of Technology
OccupationCivil servant, politician

Raoul Marc Boucke (born 1 November 1975) is a Surinamese-Dutch civil servant and politician, who has served as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. He is a member of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66). Prior to his political career, Boucke worked for two government ministries, the European Commission, as well as the Dutch representation to the European Union.

Early life and education

Boucke was born in 1975 in the Surinamese capital Paramaribo. He grew up in Moengo with his brother and sister, and his family moved to Paramaribo when Boucke was eight years old. There, he attended the high school Miranda Lyceum. Boucke emigrated to the Netherlands in 1993 to study chemical engineering at the Delft University of Technology.[1] He graduated eight years later and became a Dutch citizen in 2002.[2][3]

Career

After completing his study, Boucke took a job at the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, working on international affairs.[1][4] He started working as a civil servant for the European Union (EU) in Brussels in 2007.[5] He was first employed for four years by the permanent representation of the Netherlands to the EU, focusing on the environment, and subsequently served as an advisor on carbon markets to the Directorate-General for Climate Action of the European Commission.[1][4][6] In 2016, he returned to the Dutch permanent representation with transport as specialization.[4] He left that job in January 2020 to work at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management on aviation.[7][8]

Boucke became a member of Democrats 66 in 2002 and, starting in 2011, served as the chair of D66 in Belgium and Luxembourg, a position he would hold until 2017.[2][9] Boucke ran for Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2014 election, being placed fifth on D66's party list. He received 6,663 preferential votes, but was not elected due to his party winning four seats.[10] In the next election five years later, Boucke appeared second on D66's party list.[11] During the campaign, he supported introducing a European carbon tax and lowering the voting age from eighteen to sixteen.[12][13] Once again, Boucke was not elected; D66 won two seats, but the number three on the party list, Samira Rafaela, received more preferential votes than Boucke's 22,500.[14]

He ran for member of parliament in the 2021 general election, appearing on the D66's party list as their tenth candidate.[15] He was elected this time and received 3,518 preferential votes.[16] Boucke was sworn in as member of parliament on 31 March and was his party's spokesperson for climate, energy, aviation, mining, and fortifying Groningen homes against gas-extraction-induced quakes.[17] He is on the parliamentary Committees for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy; for European Affairs (vice chair); and for Infrastructure and Water Management, as well as on the Belgium contact group.[18] Boucke pled for large-scale investments in hydrogen fuel for the industrial sector in order to mitigate climate change.[19] He also argued in an opinion piece that there will no longer be place in the Netherlands for some polluting companies in the industrial sector. He called on the cabinet to publish a list and to favor companies that could stay when granting subsidies related to sustainability as well as for financial aid during the 2021–2022 global energy crisis.[20] In 2023, a motion by Boucke and Faissal Boulakjar (D66) was carried by the House to urge the government to require large car parks to be covered with solar panels. It followed an earlier motion by the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) to investigate the idea's viability.[21][22] Boucke and Suzanne Kröger (GroenLinks) filed a motion in October of the same year, calling on the government to create scenarios for the phasing out of its roughly €40 billion in yearly fossil fuel subsidies. While awaiting its passage, the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion suspended its month-long blockade of the A12 motorway in The Hague, organized in protest of those subsidies.[23] The movement announced no more blockades would be held until the Christmas break after a majority of the House supported the motion a week later.[24]

When the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet triggered a November 2023 snap election, Boucke announced he would not seek another term. Instead, he intended to run for a seat in the European Parliament in 2024.[25]

Personal life

Boucke lives in Rotterdam and is openly gay.[7] He is married and his husband is called Jurgen.[6][1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Snijders, Armand (13 April 2019). "Raoul Boucke: Mijn glas is altijd halfvol" [Raoul Boucke: My glass is always half full] (PDF). De Ware Tijd (in Dutch). p. B3 – via raoulboucke.nl.
  2. 1 2 "Even voorstellen..." [A small introduction...] (PDF). Democraat (in Dutch). Democrats 66. May 2019. p. 8.
  3. ↑ Boucke, Raoul (23 February 2021). "Raoul Boucke | D66". Gaykrant (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Marene Elgershuizen. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Boucke, Raoul (16 May 2019). "Bèta's moeten hun vinger opsteken" [Science students should draw attention]. TW.nl (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Mischa Brendel. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "Voor de toekomst van Europa: Van Brussel naar Almere en terug" [For Europe's future: From Brussels to Almere and back]. D66 Almere (Press release) (in Dutch). 22 October 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Belg heeft een sterk Europees burgergevoel" [Belgians have a strong sense of being a European citizen] (PDF). Democraat (in Dutch). Democrats 66. September 2013. p. 20.
  7. 1 2 "Raoul Boucke". D66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  8. ↑ Kieskamp, Wilma (11 November 2020). "D66: een oud-voetballer op de kandidatenlijst, en weinig ministers" [D66: a retired football player on the party list and few ministers]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "Kandidatenboek Tweede Kamerverkiezing 2021" [Candidate book House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). D66 (in Dutch). November 2020. p. 86. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  10. ↑ "Proces-verbaal van de verkiezingsuitslag van het Europees Parlement" [Records of the election results of the European Parliament] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 30 May 2014. pp. 24–25. Retrieved 13 January 2021 – via Parlement.com.
  11. ↑ "Terlouw lijstduwer voor D66-Europa" [Terlouw lijstduwer D66 Europe]. Trouw (in Dutch). 24 January 2019. p. 6.
  12. ↑ Boucke, Raoul (5 April 2019). "Voer een Europese CO2 heffing in, en wel snel" [Introduce a European carbon tax, and soon]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  13. ↑ Boucke, Raoul (15 February 2019). "Zestienjarigen zijn wijs genoeg om te stemmen" [Sixteen-year-olds are wise enough to vote]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  14. ↑ "Uitslag Europees Parlementsverkiezing 2019" [Results European Parliament election 2019] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 4 June 2019. p. 12–13. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "D66-leden stemmen nieuwkomers omlaag" [D66 members vote down newcomers]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 2 December 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021" [Results general election 17 March 2021] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 26 March 2021. p. 224. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "Raoul Boucke". D66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  18. ↑ "Raoul Boucke". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  19. ↑ "VVD en D66: Nederland moet vaart maken met productie waterstof" [VVD and D66: The Netherlands should speed up production of hydrogen]. RTL Nieuws. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  20. ↑ "D66: geen energiesteun voor vervuilend bedrijf zonder toekomst" [D66: no energy support for polluting companies without a future]. Noordhollands Dagblad (in Dutch). ANP. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  21. ↑ "Kamer wil parkeerplaatsen bedekken met zonnepanelen" [House wants to cover car parks with solar panels]. NOS (in Dutch). 28 March 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  22. ↑ "Motie van de leden Boulakjar en Boucke over het verplicht plaatsen van zonnepanelen boven daarvoor geschikte grote parkeerterreinen opnemen in wet- en regelgeving" [Motion of members Boulakjar and Boucke about including mandating the placement of solar panels above suitable large car parks in legislation]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  23. ↑ "XR stopt voorlopig met A12-blokkades vanwege steun voor motie" [XR suspends A12 blockades due to support of motion]. Reformatorisch Dagblad (in Dutch). ANP. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  24. ↑ Gualthérie van Weezel, Tjerk (10 October 2023). "Blokkades A12 voorlopig ten einde in afwachting van onderzoek naar fossiele subsidies" [A12 blockades suspended in anticipation of investigation into fossil fuel subsidies]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "Klimaatwoordvoerder Boucke van D66 wil naar Europees Parlement" [Climate spokesperson Boucke of D66 wants to enter the European Parliament]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). ANP. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
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