Veranneman reached adulthood during the later years of the United Netherlands as a region within the First French Empire, and seemed destined for a leading political career within it. In March 1814 he became a member of the provisional administration (forerunner of the ) in the Department of Lys. The next year, with the Napoleonic empire widely believed to have been consigned to history, he became a member of the States-Provincial (regional parliament) of West Flanders, a post he would retain till 1828.