Career
Van Den Broek started his career as a lawyer. He joined the Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP) and was member of the municipal council of Rheden between 1970 and 1974. Between 1976 and 1981 he was member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, as representative of KVP and later of the Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA).
He was Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs in the governments of Ruud Lubbers three times and was in 1991 one of the EU negotiators of the Brioni Agreement, which ended the ten day war in Slovenia. On 6 January 1993 he became a member of the European Commission, once again with responsibility for foreign relations, especially the Enlargement of the European Union. He remained in that post until March 1999, when he retired from European politics.
On 25 February 2005, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.
Van den Broek is president of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (Clingendael) and also of Radio Netherlands. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Global Panel Foundation. He is also a member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to promote good governance around the world.
Hans van den Broek is a signatory of Global Zero (campaign), a non-profit international initiative for the elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. Since its launch in Paris in December 2008, Global Zero (campaign) has grown to 300 leaders, including current and former heads of state, national security officials and military commanders, and 400,000 citizens worldwide; developed a practical step-by-step plan to eliminate nuclear weapons; launched an international student campaign with 75 campus chapters in eight countries; and produced an acclaimed documentary film, Countdown to Zero, in partnership with Lawrence Bender and Participant Media.
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