Frans H.H. Weekers, MSc, MA (Law)

Since March 2020, Frans Weekers is Deputy Secretary-General and member of the Board of Secretary General of the Benelux Union, an intergovernmental partnership between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg based in Brussels.

From 2016 until 2020, Frans Weekers was head of the Dutch Constituency in the Governing Board of the regional development bank EBRD, representing the Netherlands, China, Armenia, Macedonia and Mongolia. Over the years, he has developed an outstanding and long-lasting political career in various spheres of influence.

Before he became State Secretary for Finance from 2010 until 2014, Frans Weekers was a 12-year member of the Dutch parliament. After his resignation from the cabinet he was acting as city mayor in two different cities; he was a member of the evaluation commission on the new constitutional structure of the Dutch Caribbean and has been special advisor for the European Investment Bank (EIB).

As State Secretary for Finance, he held responsibility for fiscal policy, which encompassed taxation, customs, and the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD). Also included were movable property (DRZ) and the State Property and Development Company (RVOB). Monthly meetings were held with finance ministers of the Euro area and presidents of the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the EU Commissioner.

Weekers drew up an alternative budget plan for the Freedom and Democracy Party (VVD) in preparation for the 2010 Dutch general elections. This led to Weekers’ involvement in the development of the financial policies of the two Rutte cabinets.

He started his career as a lawyer admitted to the bar. In 1994, following in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather, Weekers was elected for the council by preferential vote in Weert, a municipality and city South East of the Netherlands.

Frans Weekers has a Master’s Degree in Dutch Law and a Master’s Degree in Financial Economics from the VU University, the Netherlands.

Since 1 January 2021, Frans Weekers is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Maastricht Aachen Airport and he is a member of the MSM Board since 1 April 2016.