Romke de Jong
De Jong in the House of Representatives
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
31 March 2021
Member of the States of Friesland
In office
28 March 2019[1] – 21 April 2021[2]
Succeeded byDanny van der Weijde
Member of the Opsterland municipal council
In office
March 2010 – 4 December 2017[3]
Succeeded byMaaike de Lang
Personal details
Born
Romke Harke de Jong[4]

(1984-04-05) 5 April 1984
Heerenveen, Netherlands
Political partyDemocrats 66
Children3
Alma materHanze University of Applied Sciences
Websiteromkedejong.nl

Romke Harke de Jong (born 5 April 1984) is a Dutch entrepreneur and politician of the social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66). He took over and expanded his father's ice cream catering company and served on the municipal council of Opsterland in Friesland between 2010 and 2018. De Jong became a member of the States of Friesland the following year, and he was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election.

Early life and non-political career

De Jong was born in 1984 in the Friesland city of Heerenveen and grew up in the nearby town of Gorredijk.[5][6] His father was the owner of a restaurant and a Gorredijk ice cream catering company, founded by Romke's grandfather in 1947, called De Jong's IJs.[7] His father also served as an Opsterland municipal councilor and alderman for D66 in the 1990s.[8] De Jong started working for De Jong's IJs in his teenage years, and he studied commercial economics at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen.[7][9]

In 2006, while studying, he became co-owner of De Jong's IJs.[7][10] De Jong and his father expanded their company by constructing a larger factory and by starting a franchise chain of ice cream and chocolate shops under the name Lilly's. Several locations were opened in 2009, most of them located in the northern provinces of the Netherlands.[11][12] A Lilly's store on the Caribbean island Bonaire was opened in early 2011.[13] The number of locations kept increasing to over ten until a spike was reached.[14] Lilly's had six stores left in 2016, while the production capacity of De Jong's IJs was being raised.[15] De Jong also invested to make his factory carbon neutral. His father temporarily took over as CEO when he became an MP in 2021.[16][17]

Politics

Local and provincial

De Jong was a member of Young Democrats, Democrats 66's independent youth wing, after a short period at the Labour Party.[18] He ran for Opsterland municipal councilor in the 2006 municipal elections as the third candidate of the new local party Opsterlanders, which had come into existence due to a merger of Opsterland Anders and the local chapters of D66 and GroenLinks.[19] De Jong did not become a council member, as Opsterlanders won one seat.[20]

D66 left the partnership Opsterlanders in the run-up to the 2010 municipal election in Opsterland. De Jong was D66's lead candidate and was elected to the municipal council.[21] He was re-elected in 2014 as D66's lead candidate, and he was again the only member of his party in the municipal council.[22] D66 became part of the governing coalition in Opsterland but left after the party had lost faith in an alderman in March 2016.[23] De Jong gave up his seat in the municipal council in December 2017 to focus on his business.[24]

He re-entered politics in the 2019 provincial election in Friesland, when he was elected to the Provincial Council of Friesland as D66's lead candidate. De Jong campaigned on constructing the Lelylijn, a proposed railway between Lelystad and Groningen.[25] In the States Provincial, he introduced a bill to reduce regulations on wind turbine construction by local communities, but it did not receive a majority.[26]

House of Representatives

In the 2021 general election, De Jong was D66's 24th candidate.[27] During the campaign, he said that he wanted the Netherlands to become a frontrunner in achieving a circular economy and that he wanted the government to financially support that transition.[28] De Jong was elected with 2,280 preference votes and was sworn into the House of Representatives on 31 March.[29] He vacated his seat in the Provincial Council of Friesland the following month, and he also left his ice cream company.[2][16] In the House, De Jong is D66's spokesperson for economic affairs, labor market, SMEs, foreign trade, tourism, innovation, space travel, declining regions, competition, taxes, customs, state benefits, and state ownership.[10]

In 2022, in order to increase the tax burden on wealthy individuals, he called for a hike in the tax rate for income from substantial interests in companies, which is referred to as box 2 in the Dutch tax system.[30] He also proposed for the government to stand as a guarantor for loans intended to make small and medium-sized enterprises more sustainable in order to make it easier to obtain such loans at banks. He advised to appropriate €50 million to €100 million for this purpose, and he later came with plans together with Thierry Aartsen (VVD) to establish a €150-million guarantor fund for microfinancing of sustainability projects in light of raising interest rates.[31][32] To address personnel shortages in multiple sectors, De Jong was in favor of welcoming more foreign workers to the Netherlands; D66 was the only major party supportive of plans by the European Commission to ease entry requirements for workers from Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.[33]

As part of the Dutch farmers' protests, demonstrators blocked the entryways of De Jong's ice cream factory for the entirety of 2 July 2022 using tractors to prevent deliveries from coming through. Politicians of D66 had earlier proposed to halve the Netherlands' livestock in order to protect nature reserves from reactive nitrogen emissions and in order to allow for the construction of homes and infrastructure following a verdict by the Council of State that those emissions had to be lowered. De Jong refused to comply with the demand of the farmers to have a discussion, saying he only has conversations when there is decency and mutual respect.[34][35] When the collapse of the fourth Rutte cabinet triggered a snap election in November 2023, De Jong announced he would not run for re-election, citing his young family.[36]

Committee assignments

  • Committee for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
  • Committee for Digital Affairs
  • Committee for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
  • Committee for Finance
  • Committee for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
  • Committee for Infrastructure and Water Management
  • Committee for Social Affairs and Employment
  • Public Expenditure Committee[5]

Personal life

De Jong lives in the Friesland town of Gorredijk, where he has lived his entire life except for when he studied in Groningen.[5][37] He has a wife called Wendel and three sons, the last of whom was born in March 2021.[16][17][38]

References

  1. ↑ "Vergadering Provinsjale Steaten (ynstallaasje PS-leden) 28-03-2019" [Meeting States Provincial (installation members) 28-03-2019]. Provinsjale Steaten (in Western Frisian). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Vergadering Provinsjale Steaten 21-04-2021" [Meeting States Provincial 21-04-2021]. Provinsjale Steaten (in Western Frisian). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  3. ↑ Gemeente Opsterland [@Opsterland] (4 December 2017). "Vanavond is Maaike de Lang beëdigd als nieuw raadslid voor D66. Van harte gefeliciteerd met uw benoeming @MaaikeD66!" [Maaike de Lang was sworn in as D66 councilor tonight. Congratulations with your appointment @MaaikeD66!] (Tweet) (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 June 2021 – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ "R.H. (Romke) de Jong". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Romke de Jong". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Wie is Romke" [Who is Romke]. Romke de Jong (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 De Jong, Romke (1 June 2021). "Romke de Jong (D66): 'Regio mag minder bescheiden zijn'" [Romke de Jong (D66): 'Area could be less modest']. VNO-NCW (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Paul Scheer. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Elverdink, Wieberen (18 July 2012). "Politici met zetels aan de haal" [Politicians are getting seats]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). p. 9.
  9. ↑ Hylkema, Nico (16 June 2009). "Lilly's schepijs verovert landelijke ijsmarkt" [Lilly's ice cream takes over national ice cream market]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch).
  10. 1 2 "Romke de Jong". D66 (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Lilly's ijs in Winschoten" [Lilly's ice cream in Winschoten]. Dagblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 3 August 2009. p. 7.
  12. ↑ "Trendgids.nl". Misset Horeca (in Dutch). Vol. 57, no. 43. 23 October 2009. p. 31.
  13. ↑ "Lilly's opent op Bonaire" [Lilly's opens on Bonaire]. Vakblad IJs! (in Dutch). 19 April 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "Friese ijsmaker Lilly's wil marktleider worden" [Frisian ice cream maker Lilly's want to become market leader]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 5 January 2012. p. 2.
  15. ↑ Hellinga, Jaap (21 October 2016). "Nieuwe machine: dubbel zoveel ijs uit Gorredijk" [New machine: twice as much ice cream from Gorredijk]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 Van der Meer, Anne Roel (18 March 2021). "Romke de Jong uit Gorredijk gaat voor D66 trots de Tweede Kamer in (en verlaat daarvoor zijn ijsfabriek)" [Romke de Jong from Gorredijk enters the House of Representatives proudly for D66 (and leaves his ice cream factory because of that)]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  17. 1 2 "Het jaar van Romke de Jong: "Mooier kon eigenlijk niet"" [Romke de Jong's year: "It couldn't have been any better"]. Omrop Fryslân (in Dutch). 27 December 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  18. ↑ De Jong, Romke (4 March 2019). "Romke de Jong: "Het is tijd voor verjonging in de Staten"" [Romke de Jong: "It's time for a rejuvenation of the Provincial Council"]. Omrop Fryslân (Interview) (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  19. ↑ "Student op lijst Opsterlanders" [Student on Opsterlanders party list]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 13 January 2006.
  20. ↑ "Gemeenteraad 7 maart 2006" [Municipal council 7 March 2006]. Databank Verkiezingsuitslagen (in Dutch). Kiesraad. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "D66 in Opsterland vaart eigen koers" [Opsterland D66 follows its own path]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 6 January 2010. p. 13.
  22. ↑ "Zo zien de nieuwe gemeenteraden er uit" [This is what the new municipal councils look like]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 22 March 2014. p. 42.
  23. ↑ "D66 stapt uit het college van Opsterland" [D66 leaves Opsterland executive]. Omrop Fryslân (in Dutch). 30 March 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  24. ↑ "Raadslid Romke de Jong (D66) stapt op" [Councilor Romke de Jong (D66) resigns] (in Dutch). 7 November 2017. p. 26.
  25. ↑ "D66: schop grond in voor 'Lelylijn'" [D66: shovel in the ground for Lelylijn]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). 8 February 2019. p. 20.
  26. ↑ Van der Meer, Anne Roel (16 December 2020). "D66 vangt bot: geen extra ruimte voor dorpsmolens" [D66 does not succeed: no extra room for community wind turbines] (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  27. ↑ "Romke de Jong uit Gorredijk zakt na interne stemming naar plek 24 op landelijke lijst D66" [Romke de Jong from Gorredijk drops after internal vote to spot 24 on national D66 party list]. AD (in Dutch). 2 December 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  28. ↑ Berentsen, Laurens (1 March 2021). "Ondernemers in de race voor de Tweede Kamer" [Entrepreneurs on the road to the House of Representatives]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  29. ↑ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021 Proces-verbaal" [Results general election 17 March 2021 Report] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. p. 188. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  30. ↑ "D66 wil ondernemers in Box 2 zwaarder belasten" [D66 wants to increase the tax burden on entrepreneurs in box 2]. BNR Nieuwsradio (in Dutch). 25 March 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  31. ↑ Knoop, Bas (6 April 2022). "D66 pleit voor staatsgaranties op 'groene leningen' aan mkb'ers" [D66 pleads for state guarantee for 'green loans' to small and medium-sized enterprises]. FD (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  32. ↑ "VVD en D66 willen ondernemers helpen te vergroenen: 'De markt faalt'" [VVD and D66 want to help entrepreneurs to be more sustainable: 'The market is failing']. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  33. ↑ Rodenburg, Sjors (25 May 2022). "Werkgevers sluiten verboden akkoorden om geen personeel bij elkaar in te pikken" [Employers are making illegal deals to not poach each others workers]. FD (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  34. ↑ "D66 wil halvering veestapel om stikstofuitstoot te verminderen" [D66 wants to halve number of farm animals to decrease reactive nitrogen emissions]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 9 September 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  35. ↑ "Blokkade bij ijsbedrijf van D66-Kamerlid na hele dag voorbij" [Blockade of ice cream company of D66 House member over after entire day]. NOS (in Dutch). 2 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  36. ↑ Van der Laan, Ton (22 July 2023). "Tweede Kamerlid Romke de Jong (D66) uit Gorredijk stopt na de verkiezingen" [Member of Parliament Romke de Jong (D66) will leave after the elections]. Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  37. ↑ "Romke de Jong". D66 Fryslân (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  38. ↑ De Jong, Romke (8 June 2021). "ONL update: D66 Tweede Kamerlid Romke de Jong" [ONL update: Member of the House of Representatives Romke de Jong for D66] (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Hans Biesheuvel and Frits Huffnagel. ONL voor Ondernemers. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via YouTube.
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