Pieter Omtzigt

Pieter Herman Omtzigt (born 8 January 1974) is a Dutch politician. As a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2003 apart from a short interruption from 17 June to 26 October 2010. He focuses on matters of taxes and pensions. He rose to prominence for his role in uncovering the childcare benefits scandal.[3]

Pieter Omtzigt
Omtzigt in 2006
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
26 October 2010
In office
3 June 2003 – 17 June 2010
Personal details
Born
Pieter Herman Omtzigt

(1974-01-08) 8 January 1974
The Hague, Netherlands
Political partyChristian Democratic Appeal (2000–present)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Exeter (BA)[2]
European University Institute (PhD)[2]

Political career

In parliament, Omtzigt currently serves on the Committees on European Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Housing and Kingdom Services, Social Affairs and Employment, Finance and Public Expenditure. Since 2017, he has served as the parliament's rapporteur on Brexit.[4] Omtzigt is considered a Euroskeptic.[3]

In addition to his role in parliament, Omtzigt has served as member of the Dutch delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2004. He is currently a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights; the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee); the Sub-Committee on Human Rights; the Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights; and the Sub-Committee on the Rights of Minorities.

In his capacity at the Parliamentary Assembly, Omtzigt has served as the Assembly's rapporteur on mass surveillance since 2014.[5] Between 2016 and 2017, he prepared the Assembly's proposal on an Investment Court System (ICS) for arbitrating in commercial disputes between states and foreign investors.[6]

Omtzigt has also served as rapporteur on the case of the car bombing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia (2018),[7] justice for the victims of ISIL (2019);[8] and on Poland (2019).[9]

Controversy

In 2017, media in the Netherlands described how fake news reports of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash were propagated with the support of Omtzigt who introduced a Russian man as an "eyewitness" of the crash on a public expert debate in May 2017. The man, who was an asylum-seeker from Ukraine, never witnessed the crash, and his speech, texted to him by Omtzigt prior to the interview, repeated one of the Russia-promoted versions of Mig jets downing the Boeing. Shortly after journalists determined that R. had not been at home on the night of the crash and he had already been interviewed by officials who had discounted him as a witness.[10][11][12]

References
  1. "Dr. P.H. (Pieter) Omtzigt". Parlement & Politiek (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  2. "Pieter Omtzigt". House of Representatives. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  3. Meeus, Tom-Jan (29 January 2021). "The man defying Mark Rutte". POLITICO. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  4. Toby Sterling (February 16, 2018), Dutch to hire 750 new customs agents before Brexit Reuters.
  5. Call on UK to investigate spying on human rights groups by UK secret services Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of 14 July 2015.
  6. Investment court system a ‘reasonable compromise’ for arbitrating disputes between states and foreign investors Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of 27 January 2017.
  7. CPJ welcomes Council of Europe's appointment of Omtzigt as special rapporteur on Malta case Committee to Protect Journalists, press release of 23 April 2018.
  8. Rapporteur calls for assurances that developments in Syria will not jeopardise justice for the victims of Daesh Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of 11 October 2019.
  9. Rapporteurs closely follow challenges to Polish Senate election result Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, press release of 24 October 2019.
  10. "Hoe twijfel rond MH17 in de hand wordt gewerkt". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  11. "Omtzigt faces calls to quit over 'fake witness' who spoke at MH17 meeting". DutchNews.nl. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  12. "Labour stalwart says he edited Dutch MP's Wikipedia page". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
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