Eberhard van der Laan

Eberhard van der Laan
Eberhard van der Laan in 2010
Mayor of Amsterdam
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 July 2010
Preceded by	Lodewijk Asscher (Ad interim)
Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration
In office 14 November 2008 – 23 February 2010
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Ella Vogelaar
Succeeded by	Eimert van Middelkoop
Personal details
Born	Eberhard Edzard van der Laan (1955-06-28) 28 June 1955 Leiden, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Labour Party (from 1976)
Children	5 children
Residence	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alma mater	VU University Amsterdam (Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws)
Occupation	Politician Political consultant Lawyer
Religion	Reformed (until 1975)
Website	(English) Official website

Eberhard Edzard van der Laan (born 28 June 1955) is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has been the Mayor of Amsterdam since 2010.

Van der Laan a lawyer by occupation, worked for the Trenité Van Doorne Advocaten law firm from 1982 until 1992 when he co-founded the Kennedy Van der Laan law firm and served as a Partner until 2008. After Ella Vogelaar the Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration in the Cabinet Balkenende IV resigned after the Leader of the Labour Party Wouter Bos lost his confidence for her position after increasing criticism on her performance, Van der Laan was asked to succeed her as Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration and took office on 14 November 2008. The Cabinet Balkenende IV fell on 23 February 2010 as the result of disagreement between the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the Labour Party over the extension of ISAF mission in Afghanistan.

Early life

Van der Laan graduated in 1983 cum laude in law at the VU University Amsterdam in Amsterdam. He co-founded the law firm Kennedy Van der Laan.

Politics

Local Politics

He started his political career as assistant to the Amsterdam Alderman Jan Schaefer. Between 1990 and 1998 he was member of the Amsterdam municipal council, from 1993 as the chair of the Labour Party group. After leaving politics he became a full-time lawyer.

National Politics

On 14 November 2008 he succeeded Ella Vogelaar as Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration in the Cabinet Balkenende IV.

In the local elections, politicians were criticized by Van der Laan for distributing election leaflets in minority languages and in some cases leaflets were collected. Due to this anti-Multicultural stand in a multicultural city, van der Laan has been accused of hypocrisy by his own Labour Party party's main candidate.

In 2006 he was informateur in the negotiations of the new Amsterdam Executive Board. On 23 June 2010 he was nominated by the Amsterdam municipal council to become Mayor of Amsterdam. This nomination is subject to Royal assent.

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Officer of the Order of Oranje-Nassau	Netherlands	17 March 2010

External links

• (Dutch) Mr. E.E. (Eberhard) van der Laan Parlement & Politiek

Political offices
Preceded by Ella Vogelaar	Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration 2008–2010	Succeeded by Eimert van Middelkoop
Preceded by Lodewijk Asscher (Ad interim)	Mayor of Amsterdam 2010–present	Incumbent