KROES, NEELIE

(1941– )

Politician. Kroes studied economy at the School of Economics (now Erasmus University) in Rotterdam and became a member of Parliament for the liberal Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie(VVD)in 1971 (between 1965 and 1991, she went by the name Smit-Kroes). She continued as secretary (1977–1981) and minister (1982–1989) of transport and communications. From 1991 until 2000, Kroes served as president of Nyenrode Business University, one of her many additional jobs. Since 2004, she has been the Euro pean Union’s (EU)commissioner for competition.