Jan Peter Balkenende

Jan Peter Balkenende
Jan Peter Balkenende
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
	In office; 22 July 2002 – 14 October 2010
Monarch	Beatrix
Deputy	Eduard Bomhoff; Johan Remkes; Gerrit Zalm; Wouter Bos
Preceded by	Wim Kok
Succeeded by	Mark Rutte
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal
	In office; 1 October 2001 – 9 June 2010
Preceded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives
	In office; 30 November 2006 – 21 February 2007
Preceded by	Maxime Verhagen
Succeeded by	Pieter van Geel
	In office; 30 January 2003 – 21 May 2003
Preceded by	Maxime Verhagen
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
	In office; 1 October 2001 – 11 July 2002
Preceded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
Member of the House of Representatives
	In office; 30 November 2006 – 22 February 2007
	In office; 30 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
	In office; 19 May 1998 – 22 July 2002
Personal details
Born	Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr.; 7 May 1956; Biezelinge, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse(s)	Bianca Hoogendijk (m. 1996)
Children	1
Education	Free University Amsterdam (BA, MA, LLM, PhD)
Signature

Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɑn ˈpeːtər ˈbɑlkənˌɛndə] (listen); born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch jurist and retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA).

Balkenende started his career as a legal counsel at the Academic Council of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 1982 until 1984, and as a researcher at the Christian Democratic Appeal think tank from 1984 until 1998. He worked as a professor of Christian theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam from 1993 until 2002. Balkenende was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1998, and served in the House of Representatives from 19 May 1998 until 22 July 2002. After the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and Parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stepped down following an internal power struggle between him and Chairman of the Christian Democratic Appeal Marnix van Rij for the leadership, De Hoop Scheffer endorsed Balkenende as his successor. After De Hoop Scheffer stood down on 1 October 2001, Balkenende was chosen to succeed him and became the Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives and the lijsttrekker (top candidate) of the party for the election of 2002. The Christian Democratic Appeal became the surprising winner of the election, gaining 14 seats and becoming the largest party, now having 43 seats in House of Representatives. This success was in part owed to Balkenende's neutral attitude in the debates with Pim Fortuyn, the eponymous leader of the Pim Fortuyn List party who was assassinated days before the election on 6 May 2002. The following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Appeal, the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), which formed the first Balkenende cabinet with Balkenende becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of General Affairs on 22 July 2002.

However, the first Balkenende cabinet fell after only 87 days in office on 16 October 2002 following internal conflicts within the Pim Fortuyn List leadership that destabilised the coalition agreement on 16 October 2002. For the election of 2003, Balkenende served again as lijsttrekker. The Christian Democratic Appeal remained the largest party, gaining one seat and now totalling 44 seats in the House of Representatives. The following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Appeal, the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Democrats 66 (D66), which formed the second Balkenende cabinet, with Balkenende continuing as Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs, taking office on 27 May 2003. This second cabinet fell on 30 June 2006 after the Democrats 66 retracted their support following there dissatisfaction with the way Minister for Integration and Asylum Affairs Rita Verdonk had handled the crisis around the naturalisation of Member of the House of Representatives Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Democrats 66 cabinet members resigned on 3 July 2006. A caretaker government was made by the Christian Democratic Appeal and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy that formed the third Balkenende cabinet on 7 July 2006. For the election of 2006 Balkenende served again as lijsttrekker. The election resulted in a small loss of three seats for the Christian Democratic Appeal, but it remained the largest party and now had 41 seats in the House of Representatives. The following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement between the Christian Democratic Appeal, the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Christian Union (CU), which formed the centre-left fourth Balkenende cabinet, with Balkenende continuing as Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs, taking office on 22 February 2007. The fourth Balkenende cabinet fell on 20 February 2010 after the Labour Party retracted their support following a disagreement over the extension of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, the Labour Party cabinet members resigned on 23 February 2010. The cabinet remained in office in a demissionary capacity. For the election of 2010 Balkenende served as lijsttrekker for a fourth and final time. The Christian Democratic Appeal suffered a large defeat in the election, losing 20 seats and falling back as the fourth party, now having 21 seats in the House of Representatives. Balkenende accepted responsibility for the defeat and sequentially announced his resignation as party leader and his retirement from national politics. He was succeeded as Leader by his long serving Deputy Maxime Verhagen that same day on 9 June 2010. He remained Prime Minister until the first Rutte cabinet was installed on 14 October 2010.

After his premiership, Balkenende retired from active politics and became a professor of Governance, Institutions and Internationalization at the Erasmus University Rotterdam on 1 December 2010, and worked as a Partner of Corporate Responsibility at Ernst & Young from 1 April 2011 until 1 July 2017. Following his retirement Balkenende occupies numerous seats as a corporate director and nonprofit director for supervisory boards in the business and industry world and several international organisations (ING Group, Goldschmeding Foundation and the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition).

Early life

Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr. was born on 7 May 1956 in Biezelinge in the province of Zeeland in a family belonging to the Reformed faith, the son of Jan Pieter Balkenende Sr. a cereal grains merchant and Thona Johanna Sandee, a teacher. During his childhood, Balkenende was an active supporter of the Dutch football team PSV Eindhoven, along with his father he frequented many matches. He also regularly visited the local music school and theatre. Balkenende went to a Reformed Protestant primary school in Kapelle. He attended secondary school at the "Christian Lyceum for Zeeland" in Goes, graduating in 1974.[1] He studied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he received a Master of Arts degree in history in 1980, a Master of Laws degree in Law in 1982, and finally a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Law in 1992.[1]

Balkenende resides with his wife, Bianca Hoogendijk, and his daughter, Amelie, in Capelle aan den IJssel, a suburb of Rotterdam. During his tenure as Prime Minister, he did not use the Catshuis, the formal residency of the Prime Minister.

Early political career

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi in Moscow on 31 May 2003.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the Binnenhof on 25 November 2004.

Chancellor of Austria Wolfgang Schüssel and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at a European People's Party summit in Meise on 15 June 2006.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and President of the United States George W. Bush in the Oval Office on 5 June 2008.

Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende at a European People's Party congress in Warsaw on 29 April 2009.

First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and President of the United States Barack Obama at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 23 September 2009.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and President of France Nicolas Sarkozy at the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. on 14 April 2010.

President of Argentina Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in Toronto on 10 June 2010.

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Prime Minister of Belgium Yves Leterme European People's Party summit in Meise on 16 June 2010.

He began his career on the staff of the research institute of the CDA and as a city councilman in Amstelveen. In 1992 he received his PhD with a thesis on "Governance regulation and social organisations" (Overheidsregelgeving en maatschappelijke organisaties), a strongly inspired by the Communitarian ideas of Amitai Etzioni.[2] One year later in 1993, he became an extraordinary professor of Christian-Social Thought at the Free University of Amsterdam.

Balkenende first entered the House of Representatives on 19 May 1998 while the CDA was in opposition. He became the CDA's financial spokesman and was also involved with social affairs, justice, and domestic affairs. In this role he advocated a substantial reduction of the national debt and sound public finances.

He was elected Chairman of the CDA parliamentary fraction on 1 October 2001, succeeding Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. On 3 November 2001, he was appointed lijsttrekker for the CDA in the tumultuous May 2002 parliamentary elections. These elections restored the CDA's former position as the largest political party in the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands

First cabinet

On 4 July 2002 Queen Beatrix asked Balkenende to form a new government after the general elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Wim Kok. The coalition cabinet included the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) party, whose leader (Pim Fortuyn) was assassinated just days before the election. It collapsed after just 87 days in office because of internal conflicts within the LPF that destabilised the government.

Second cabinet

After early elections in 2003 Balkenende formed his second government with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the progressive liberal D66. Once again leader of a centre-right coalition, Balkenende's policies centred on reform of the Dutch public services, social security, pre-pension facilities, public health, reducing crime, a tough immigration policy and historically large cuts in public spending. The measures gave rise to large public anger and bad results in opinion polls for his CDA party. While his party remained the largest Dutch delegation in the European Parliament after the European elections, beating the general expectation of a huge loss in parliamentary seats, the party suffered strong losses during Dutch municipal elections of 2006, losing their position as the largest party in many municipalities. Despite his unpopularity among Dutch voters (polls in 2006 showed that only 26–33% of the voters had confidence in him as prime minister), his position as leader of the CDA remained stable. In the beginning of 2006, some CDA members tried to replace Balkenende as leader with Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman. Veerman did not accept the proposition and offered his support to Balkenende. Balkenende's popularity recovered since then, surpassing that of his main competitor Wouter Bos in the autumn of 2006. By then, 53% preferred Balkenende as Prime Minister of the Netherlands while 40% preferred Bos.[3] The switch in public opinion is sometimes explained by the steady recovery of the Dutch economy during the last year of his administration and the positive effects of the reformed policy of the Balkenende cabinet, combined with declining confidence in Bos as a good alternative for the position of Prime Minister.

On 1 July 2004 Balkenende took up the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Third cabinet

On 30 June 2006, the Democrats 66, the smallest coalition party, withdrew its support of the government over the way Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk had handled the crisis around the naturalisation of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a member of the House of Representatives. Balkenende resigned for the second time as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, announced early elections and presented his third government a week later. This rump cabinet, formed of a minority coalition of CDA and VVD, stayed in office until the elections of 22 November 2006.

Fourth cabinet

Though his old coalition partners VVD and D66 fared badly in the parliamentary elections of 2006, Balkenende managed to defend the dominant position of his CDA. Needing alternative coalition partners to form a new majority government, he formed a social-Christian coalition with the Labour Party (PvdA) and the orthodox-Protestant Christian Union. The Fourth Balkenende cabinet was formed after Balkenende was appointed formateur by Queen Beatrix on 9 February 2007.[4] His cabinet was announced on 13 February and was scheduled to be in office until 2011, but it fell in the early morning of 20 February 2010 as the result of disagreement between the majority of the parliament and the coalition partners CDA and PvdA over the extension of the Dutch ISAF-mission in Afghanistan.[5] In contrast to the formation of a new caretaker cabinet with full responsibility (Balkenende III after the fall of Balkenende II), Balkenende IV continued as a demissionary cabinet, a caretaker cabinet with limited responsibility.

2010 election and resignation

Despite serious criticism by former prime ministers from the CDA, Balkenende was the Christian Democratic Appeal lijsttrekker for the Dutch general election of 2010.[6] Balkenende raised mild controversy during his campaign for the 2010 Dutch elections. While appearing in a television show, Balkenende was asked by a female presenter what parties he would most likely form a coalition with. Balkenende first gave evasive answers, then when asked again by the presenter, responded saying "U kijkt zo lief" (English: "You look so cute"). The comment was regarded as sexist and criticised by several people, including Opzij chief-editor Margriet van der Linden and GroenLinks leader Femke Halsema (who stated that "[the prime minister] deserves a knee to the groin" (in Dutch: "een knietje verdient")).[7] Balkenende apologised for the comment later.[8]

On 9 June 2010, Balkenende resigned his position as leader of the CDA as well as his seat in the newly elected parliament, taking political responsibility for the CDA's disappointing election results in the 2010 general election.[9]

Other issues

In 2004, during his second cabinet, Balkenende was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis. He was treated through surgical debridement and made a full recovery after several weeks in hospital.

On 4 June 2005, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht said in the Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws (The Latest News) that "Balkenende is a mix of Harry Potter and a petty rigid bourgeois mentality". This comparison caused a small diplomatic controversy, and the Belgian ambassador had to apologise to Ben Bot, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs.[10] Retired deputy prime minister Hans Wiegel commented he preferred Harry Potter to the Manneken Pis.

Balkenende has a close relationship with the Dutch people from Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. He has visited several Keti Koti celebrations in recent years.

He was a member of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and since 1 May 2004 a member of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

Honours and decorations

Ribbon bar	Honour	Date
Foreign honours
	Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross of Brazil
	Grand Cross of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins of Chile
	Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
	Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
	Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland	29 August 2012[11]
	Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star of Sweden
	Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence of Jordan
	Companion of the Order of the Star of Ghana
	Commander of the Order of Leopold of Belgium	8 July 2016[12]
National honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Date
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau	23 November 2010

Awards

Golden Honorary Medal, of the municipality Amstelveen (Netherlands, 30 May 1998)

Honorary degrees

Honorary doctorate in Laws, Hope College (Holland, Michigan, United States, 7 September 2012)
Honorary doctorate in Human Letters, Hofstra University (Hempstead, New York, United States, 22 May 2011)
Honorary doctorate in Sociology, Yonsei University (Seoul, South Korea, 27 April 2010)
Honorary doctorate in Systems, Design and Management, Keio University (Tokyo, Japan, 27 oktober 2009)
Honorary doctorate in Theology, Károli Gáspár University of the Hungarian Reformed Church (Budapest, Hungary, 10 October 2005)

References

"Mr. Dr. J.P. Balkenende" (in Dutch). Leiden University. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
"The Political Center under Pressure: Elections in the Netherlands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008.
"Balkenende als premier populairder dan Bos" (in Dutch). Elsevier. 10 September 2006. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008.
"Balkenende benoemd tot formateur" (in Dutch). NOS.nl. 9 February 2007. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007.
Tyler, John (20 February 2010). "Dutch government falls over Afghanistan mission". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
(in Dutch) Balkenende weer lijsttrekker CDA
"Balkenende excuseert zich voor 'u kijkt zo lief'" (in Dutch). Nederlands Dagblad. 27 May 2010.
"Wat zeg je terug op "U kijkt zo lief"?" (in Dutch). NRC Next. 27 May 2010.
De Telegraaf. "Balkenende weg als CDA-leider". Retrieved 9 June 2010.
"Belgian Potter jibe upsets Dutch". BBC News. 6 June 2005.
Decoration of former Dutch Prime Minister H.E. Jan Peter Balkenende - website Embassy of the Republic of Poland in The Hague
De Telegraph article (in Dutch).

External links

Official

(in Dutch) Prof.Mr.Dr. J.P. (Jan Peter) Balkenende Parlement & Politiek
(in Dutch) Kabinet Balkenende I Rijksoverheid
(in Dutch) Kabinet-Balkenende II Rijksoverheid
(in Dutch) Kabinet-Balkenende III Rijksoverheid
(in Dutch) Kabinet-Balkenende IV Rijksoverheid

Party political offices
Preceded by Jaap de Hoop Scheffer	Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal 2001–2010	Succeeded by Maxime Verhagen
Preceded by Jaap de Hoop Scheffer	Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives 2001–2002
Preceded by Maxime Verhagen	Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives 2003
Preceded by Maxime Verhagen	Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives 2006–2007	Succeeded by Pieter van Geel
Political offices
Preceded by Wim Kok	Prime Minister of the Netherlands 2002–2010	Succeeded by Mark Rutte
Preceded by Wim Kok	Minister of General Affairs 2002–2010	Succeeded by Mark Rutte

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[biography-1] "Mr. Dr. J.P. Balkenende" (in Dutch). Leiden University. Retrieved 7 June 2007.

[2] "The Political Center under Pressure: Elections in the Netherlands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2008.

[3] "Balkenende als premier populairder dan Bos" (in Dutch). Elsevier. 10 September 2006. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008.

[4] "Balkenende benoemd tot formateur" (in Dutch). NOS.nl. 9 February 2007. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007.

[5] Tyler, John (20 February 2010). "Dutch government falls over Afghanistan mission". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.

[6] (in Dutch) Balkenende weer lijsttrekker CDA

[7] "Balkenende excuseert zich voor 'u kijkt zo lief'" (in Dutch). Nederlands Dagblad. 27 May 2010.

[8] "Wat zeg je terug op "U kijkt zo lief"?" (in Dutch). NRC Next. 27 May 2010.

[9] De Telegraaf. "Balkenende weg als CDA-leider". Retrieved 9 June 2010.

[10] "Belgian Potter jibe upsets Dutch". BBC News. 6 June 2005.

[11] Decoration of former Dutch Prime Minister H.E. Jan Peter Balkenende - website Embassy of the Republic of Poland in The Hague

[12] De Telegraph article (in Dutch).

Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands (2006–2010)
House of Representatives, 30 November 2006 – 16 June 2010
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA – 41)	Van Geel Aasted-Madsen Algra Atsma <Balkenende> Bilder Biskop Blanksma-Van den Heuvel Van Bochove <Van de Camp> Çörüz Van Dijk <Donner> Eski Ferrier <Van Gennip> Van Haersma Buma Haverkamp <Hessels> <Van Heugten> Van Hijum <Van der Hoeven> Ten Hoopen Jager Joldersma Jonker <Van der Knaap> Knops Koopmans Koppejan <Kortenhorst> Mastwijk de Nerée tot Babberich Omtzigt Ormel De Pater-Van der Meer Pieper De Rouwe Schermers Schinkelshoek Schreijer-Pierik Smilde Spies Sterk Van Toorenburg Uitslag <Verburg> <Verhagen> Vietsch De Vries Van Vroonhoven-Kok <Wijn> Willemse-Van der Ploeg
Labour Party (PvdA – 33)	Hamer Albayrak Arib Besselink Blom Boelhouwer <Bos> Bouchibti Bouwmeester <Bussemaker> <Crone> Van Dam <Depla> Van Dijken <Dijksma> Dijsselbloem Eijsink Gill'ard Heerts Heijnen Jacobi Kalma <Koenders> Kraneveldt Kuiken <Laaper> Leerdam Linhard Roefs Samsom Smeets Spekman Tang <Tichelaar> Timmer <Timmermans> Van der Veen Verbeet (Speaker) Vermeij Vos Waalkens Wolbert <Wolfson> <Yücel>
Socialist Party (SP – 25)	Kant <Abel> Bashir Van Bommel Van Dijk Gerkens Van Gerven Gesthuizen <Van Gijlswijk> Irrgang Jansen Karabulut Langkamp Van Leeuwen Leijten Lempens Luijben Marijnissen Polderman Poppe Van Raak Roemer De Rooij <De Roos> Smits Ulenbelt Van Velzen de Wit
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD – 21)	Rutte Aptroot <Van Baalen> Van Beek Blok <Boekestijn> Ten Broeke Van der Burg Dezentjé Hamming-Bluemink <Elias> Griffith Harbers Kamp De Krom Meeuwis Van Miltenburg Neppérus Nicolaï Remkes Schippers Snijder-Hazelhoff Teeven Weekers Zijlstra
Party for Freedom (PVV – 9)	Wilders Agema Bosma Brinkman Van Dijck Fritsma Graus <Madlener> De Mos De Roon
GroenLinks (GL – 7)	Halsema Azough Dibi <Diks> <Duyvendak> Van Gent Peters Sap Vendrik
Christian Union (CU – 6)	Slob Anker Cramer <Huizinga> Ortega <Rouvoet> Voordewind Wiegman
Democrats 66 (D66 – 3)	Pechtold Van der Ham Kaya
Party for the Animals (PvdD – 2)	Thieme Ouwehand
Reformed Political Party (SGP – 2)	Van der Vlies Van der Staaij
Independent (Lid-Verdonk – 1)	Verdonk
Bold signifies the parliamentary leader (first mentioned) and the Speaker Angle brackets signify a replacement member or a member who prematurely left this House of Representatives See also: Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2010–12

Demissionary Fourth Balkenende cabinet (2010)
Preceded by: Fourth Balkenende cabinet Succeeded by: First Rutte cabinet
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	André Rouvoet (Education, Culture and Science and Youth and Family)
Ministers	Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Interior and Kingdom Relations and Justice) Maxime Verhagen (Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation) Jan Kees de Jager (Finance) Maria van der Hoeven (Economic Affairs) Eimert van Middelkoop (Defence and Housing and Integration) Ab Klink (Health, Welfare and Sport) Camiel Eurlings (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Gerda Verburg (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) Piet Hein Donner (Social Affairs and Employment) Tineke Huizinga (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment)
State Secretaries	Ank Bijleveld (Interior and Kingdom Relations) Jack de Vries (Defence) Marja van Bijsterveldt (Education, Culture and Science)

Fourth Balkenende cabinet (2007–2010)
Preceded by: Third Balkenende cabinet Succeeded by: Demissionary Fourth Balkenende cabinet
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende General Affairs
Deputy Prime Ministers	Wouter Bos (Finance) André Rouvoet (Youth and Family)
Ministers	Guusje ter Horst (Interior and Kingdom Relations) Maxime Verhagen (Foreign Affairs) Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Justice) Maria van der Hoeven (Economic Affairs) Eimert van Middelkoop (Defence) Ab Klink (Health, Welfare and Sport) Ronald Plasterk (Education, Culture and Science) Camiel Eurlings (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Gerda Verburg (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) Piet Hein Donner (Social Affairs and Employment) Jacqueline Cramer (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment)
Ministers without portfolio	Ella Vogelaar (Housing and Integration) (2007–2008) Eberhard van der Laan (Housing and Integration) (from 2008) Bert Koenders (Development Cooperation)
State Secretaries	Ank Bijleveld (Interior and Kingdom Relations) Frans Timmermans (Foreign Affairs) Jan Kees de Jager (Finance) Nebahat Albayrak (Justice) Frank Heemskerk (Economic Affairs) Cees van der Knaap (Defence) (2007) Jack de Vries (Defence) (from 2007) Jet Bussemaker (Health, Welfare and Sport) Marja van Bijsterveldt (Education, Culture and Science) Sharon Dijksma (Education, Culture and Science) Tineke Huizinga (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Ahmed Aboutaleb (Social Affairs and Employment) (2007–2008) Jetta Klijnsma (Social Affairs and Employment) (from 2008)

Third Balkenende cabinet (2006–2007)
Preceded by: Second Balkenende cabinet Succeeded by: Fourth Balkenende cabinet
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Minister	Gerrit Zalm (Finance)
Ministers	Johan Remkes (Interior) Ben Bot (Foreign Affairs) Piet Hein Donner (Justice) (2006) Rita Verdonk (Justice) (ad interim) Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Justice) (from 2006) Joop Wijn (Economic Affairs) Henk Kamp (Defence) Hans Hoogervorst (Health, Welfare and Sport) Maria van der Hoeven (Education, Culture and Science) Karla Peijs (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Cees Veerman (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) Aart Jan de Geus (Social Affairs and Employment) Sybilla Dekker (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) (2006) Pieter Winsemius (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) (from 2006)
Ministers without portfolio	Rita Verdonk (Integration and Immigration) Atzo Nicolaï (Government Reform and Kingdom Relations) Agnes van Ardenne (Development Cooperation)
State secretaries	Karien van Gennip (Economic Affairs) Cees van der Knaap (Defence) Clémence Ross-van Dorp (Health, Welfare and Sport) Bruno Bruins (Education, Culture and Science) Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Henk van Hoof (Social Affairs and Employment) Pieter van Geel (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment)

Second Balkenende cabinet (2003–2006)
^{Preceded by: First Balkenende cabinet · Succeeded by: Third Balkenende cabinet}
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Ministers	Gerrit Zalm (Finance) Thom de Graaf (Government Reform and Kingdom Relations) (2003–2005) Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (Economic Affairs) (2005–2006)
Ministers	Johan Remkes (Interior) Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (Foreign Affairs) (2003) Ben Bot (Foreign Affairs) (from 2003) Piet Hein Donner (Justice) Gerrit Zalm (Economic Affairs) (ad interim) Henk Kamp (Defence) Hans Hoogervorst (Health, Welfare and Sport) Maria van der Hoeven (Education, Culture and Science) Karla Peijs (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Cees Veerman (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) Aart Jan de Geus (Social Affairs and Employment) Sybilla Dekker (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment)
Ministers without portfolio	Rita Verdonk (Integration and Immigration) Agnes van Ardenne (Development Cooperation) Alexander Pechtold (Government Reform and Kingdom Relations) (2005–2006)
State secretaries	Atzo Nicolaï (Foreign Affairs) Joop Wijn (Finance) Karien van Gennip (Economic Affairs) Cees van der Knaap (Defence) Annette Nijs (Education, Culture and Science) (2003–2004) Medy van der Laan (Education, Culture and Science) Mark Rutte (Education, Culture and Science) (2004–2006) Bruno Bruins (Education, Culture and Science) (from 2006) Clémence Ross-van Dorp (Health, Welfare and Sport) Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Transport, Public Works and Water Management) Mark Rutte (Social Affairs and Employment) (2003–2004) Henk van Hoof (Social Affairs and Employment) (from 2004) Pieter van Geel (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment)