Quick Facts
Biography
Marietje Schaake (Dutch pronunciation: [mɑˈritʃə ˈsxaːkə]; born 28 October 1978) is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the Netherlands. She is a member of Democrats 66, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.
The Wall Street Journal called her "Europe's most wired politician", while CNN called her a "rising Dutch star" who makes an increasingly rare "passionate and public case for liberalism and globalization". She was voted as one of the "40 MEPs that matter" by Politico in 2016, and was selected as one of the "Politico 28" in 2017". According to Politico, Schaake is the "ultimate digital MEP" whose name has been floated as a potential candidate for the foreign ministry".
Education and early career
Schaake grew up in Leiden and went to high school at the Haags Montessori Lyceum in The Hague. She then left for the United States to study liberal arts at Wittenberg University in Ohio. She went on to study sociology, American studies and new media at the University of Amsterdam. After an internship with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Schaake was granted the Lantos Fellowship of the United States House of Representatives, where she focused on international relations and human rights issues.
Before her political life, Schaake served as an independent advisor to, amongst others, the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands and to the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in Washington, D.C.. Other assignments included consulting the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as cultural institutes and companies. Schaake specialized in topics such as transatlantic relations, diversity, integration, civil rights and Muslims in the West. In 2007 she received the Barney Karbank Memorial Award 2007 for outstanding leadership on the issue of human rights.
Political career
In the fall of 2008, Schaake was nominated as candidate for the European Parliament for the Dutch political party Democrats 66 (D66). In the European Parliament elections of 2009, Schaake was elected when D66 won three seats. In the 2014 elections, she was re-elected for a second term.
In the European Parliament, Schaake is the ALDE Coordinator of the International Trade committee (INTA). She is the spokesperson for the ALDE Group on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). In 2016, she also served as the parliament’s rapporteur on a ban on trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other treatment or punishment.
Schaake additionally serves on the committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), where she focuses on strengthening Europe as a global player. She works on the EU’s neighbourhood policy, notably Turkey, Iran and North Africa and the broader Middle East. In the subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI), she speaks on human rights and coordinates the monthly human rights resolutions for ALDE.
Schaake has taken several initiatives to promote digital freedoms and to include them in EU foreign policy. She is vice president of the delegation for relations with the United States and serves in the delegation for relations with Iran, and in the delegation for the Arab peninsula. Schaake has pushed for completing Europe’s digital single market and copyright reform. She supports an open internet in discussions about internet governance and digital (human) rights.
Schaake established the Intergroup on the Digital Agenda for Europe. In this group Members of the European Parliament, cross-party and cross-nationality, work together in strengthening the digital agenda for Europe.
In March 2011, the European Parliament adopted Schaake's report on the Cultural Dimensions of the EU's External Actions. This was followed by the adoption of Schaake's report on a Digital Freedom Strategy in EU Foreign Policy in December 2012 and her report on Freedom of the Press and Media in the World in June 2013. Furthermore, in April 2014 the European Parliament supported Schaake's amendments to enshrine netneutrality into European telecommunications legislation.
In 2017, Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, appointed Schaake as Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Kenya .
Other activities
Schaake has several unpaid additional positions, including the following:
- European Council on Foreign Relations, Member
- Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, Commissioner
- World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Future of Digital Economy and Society, Member
- European Internet Foundation, Member of the Board of Governors
- European Leadership Network (ELN), Member
- Free Press Unlimited, Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board
- Friends of Europe, Member of the Board of Trustees
- Internet Society (ISOC), Member of the Dutch section
- Humanity in Action, Member of the Advisory Board
- Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Informatieprofessionals, Chair of the Board of Advisors
- Model European Parliament, Member of the Committee of Recommendation
- Prince Claus Fund, Member of the Board
- Publeaks, Member of the Advisory Board
- Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, Member of the Board of Advisors
- Young Global Leader, Class of 2014
Schaake is also a member of the Board of Advisors at the EU-funded research project 'Media, Conflict and Democratisation'. In September 2013, Schaake joined the Steering Committee of the "Transatlantic Dialogues on Security and Freedom in the Digital Age" project of the New America Foundation. Schaake is also a member of the Committee of Recommendation of 1848. Earlier he was a Commissioner at the Global Commission on Internet Governance and a Member of the board of directors at the Flemish-Dutch House deBuren. All additional positions are unpaid.