Lubbers, Ruud

Lubbers, Ruud (1939- ), Dutch politician and Prime Minister of the Netherlands (1982-1994). Lubbers was born Rudolphus Franz Marie Lubbers, in Rotterdam. After graduating from Erasmus University in that city he worked as an executive for his family’s engineering firm, Lubbers Hollandia, from 1963 onward. Having joined the centre-right party, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he also served on the boards of the Christian Employers’ Federation and of the Federation of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Industries.

Lubbers was minister of economic affairs in a coalition government from 1973 to 1977 and then entered parliament, becoming leader of the CDA in 1978. He became prime minister in November 1982, leading a coalition with the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, but in 1989 formed a new coalition with the centre-left Labour Party, which lasted until 1994, when the CDA lost power in general elections. During his relatively long term as prime minister he presided over the liberalization of the Dutch economy and took part in the process of strengthening what is now the European Union, although he opposed plans to enhance its economic and social functions at the expense of the national governments of its member states. In 1994 he made a failed bid to become President of the European Commission. In November 1995 the United States vetoed him as successor to Willy Claes as Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, though chiefly over procedural disagreements with European member states. In November 1999 he was appointed the International President for the World Wide Fund for Nature. In 2000 he was appointed to succeed Sodako Ogata as the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Lubbers resigned as High Commissioner in February 2005, with almost a year of his term to run, after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him (charges that he denied).