Minister of Housing
What was the position of Henk Kamp from 2002 to 2003?
Henk Kamp Henricus Gregorius Jozeph Henk Kamp ( ; born 23 July 1952 ) is a retired Dutch politician of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy ( VVD ) and nonprofit director . Kamp studied Customs at the Civil Service Academy in Utrecht . Kamp worked as a tax collector for the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service ( FIOD ) of the Tax and Customs Administration from April 1980 until May 1994 . After the election of 1994 Kamp was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 17 May 1994 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Integration . After the election of 2002 Kamp was appointed as Minister of Housing , Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Cabinet Balkenende I taking office on 22 July 2002 . The Cabinet Balkenende I fell just 87 days into its term and shortly thereafter was appointed as Minister of Defence following the resignation of Benk Korthals taking office on 12 December 2002 . After the election of 2003 Kamp continued as Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Balkenende II . The Cabinet Balkenende fell on 30 June 2006 was replaced with the caretaker Cabinet Balkenende III with Kamp retaining his position . After the election of 2006 Kamp returned to the House of Representatives on 30 November 2006 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Kingdom Relations . In December 2008 Kamp was nominated as the first Governor of the Caribbean Netherlands serving from 1 January 2009 until 10 October 2010 . After the election of 2010 Kamp was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Cabinet Rutte I taking office 14 October 2010 . The Cabinet Rutte I fell 18 months into its term and shortly thereafter announced that he would not stand for the election of 2012 but accept to serve in a new cabinet position . After the election Kamp was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Rutte II taking office on 5 November 2012 . In February 2016 Kamp announced his retirement and that he wouldnt stand for the election of 2017 and declined to serve in new cabinet . Kamp retired from active politics at 65 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and serves on several and councils on behalf of the government , and works as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Healthcare Providers association since January 2018 and became a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the Industry and Employers confederation ( VNO-NCW ) in February 2018 . Early life . Henricus Gregorius Jozeph Kamp was born on 23 July 1952 in Hengelo in the Netherlands Province of Overijssel in a Roman Catholic family . He left the Roman Catholic faith years later and became a Humanist . After completing his HAVO diploma he worked at two wholesalers in Enschede , Borculo and Tilburg until 1977 . From 1977 to 1980 he attended the auditors training at the Tax Training in Utrecht . He worked as an investigator for the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service ( FIOD ) until 1986 . Politics . From 1976 to 1994 he was a member of the municipal council in Borculo . From 1986 he was in also alderman in Borculo . From 1987 to 1994 he was a member of the Provincial Council of Gelderland . He became a Member of the House of Representatives on 17 May 1994 . On 22 July 2002 , Kamp became Minister of Housing , Spatial Planning and the Environment . He was Minister of Defence from December 12 , 2002 till 22 February 2007 . After early elections were held as a result of parliamentary agreements following the formation of the minority cabinet Balkenende III . As part of his farewell tour as Minister of Defence , Henk Kamp visited the Dutch troops in Afghanistan and paid his respects to president Hamid Karzai . President Karzai awarded Henk Kamp the High State Medal of Ghazi Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan . Kamp left the House of Representatives on 1 January 2009 to head the transformation of Bonaire , Saba and St . Eustatius to special municipalities within the Netherlands . On 13 September 2012 , the day after the parliamentary elections , Kamp was asked to prepare for the formation of a new cabinet and had exploratory conversations with several parties . Already on that very day the Parliamentary leaders in the House of Representatives met with the President of the House of Representatives Gerdi Verbeet . His opinion after the talks was to start a formation on a coalition with the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Labour Party with himself and former Leader of the Labour Party Wouter Bos as informateurs . The formation resulted in the forming of the Cabinet Rutte II and Kamp became Minister of Economic Affairs and took office on 5 November 2012 . After the resignation of Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten on 10 March 2015 , Kamp became the senior member of the Council of Ministers and the third highest-ranking member after Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher . Early February 2016 Kamp announced his retirement from national politics as of the 2017 elections . External links . - Official - H.G.J . ( Henk ) Kamp Parlement & Politiek