The Fonds of Pieter Dankert

Biography

Pieter Dankert was a Dutch politician, born on 8 January 1934 in Frisia. After completing a fast-track training as a primary school teacher at the Leeuwarden Teacher Training College (1955-1956) he studied History at Amsterdam University (1956-1959). He then worked as a researcher at the Koos Vorrink Institute from 1963 to 1971, becoming its Director in 1965. From 1975 to 1980, Dankert held the position of President of the Netherlands Institute for Peace and Security.

He passed away on 21 June 2003.

Political Posts held

•    From 1958: Member of the Dutch Labour Party; member of its executive board from 1963
•    1965-1977: Member of the Socialist International Bureau
•    1968-1981: Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament; 1973-1980: Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs
•    1971-1977: Member of the Western European Union, general rapporteur for the Political Affairs Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
•    1974-1976: Chairman of the Royal Committee on Defence
•    1977-1979: Member of the European Parliament
•    1979-1989: Elected as a Member of the European Parliament
•    1978-1979: Vice-President of the Socialist Group
•    1979-1982: Vice-President of the European Parliament
•    1982-1984: President of the European Parliament
•    1984-1989: Vice-President of the European Parliament
•    1989-1994: Netherlands Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, responsible for European cooperation
•    1994-1999: Re-elected as a Member of the European Parliament

What's in the Archives

The archive of the Cabinet of Pieter Dankert is organised in the light of the various activities performed during his term of office as President of the European Parliament. 

Public Figure

PE1 P2 100/PERS

This series is comprised of all the sub-series relating to the public activities and the media image of the President of Parliament as the key public representative of Parliament.

The series is made up of the following seven sub-series:
- Biographical aspects
- Sponsorship and events
- Media image
- Honours and awards
- Defence of human rights
- Exchanges with private individuals
- Election to the Presidency

Presidency of Parliament

PE1 P2 200/PRES

This contains documents covering all the sub-series relating to the President's political activities between 1982 and 1984, together with the administrative duties of the President's Office. This main series contains documents on Dankert's performance of the duties of the President of Parliament, representing the institution in exchanges with both internal and external bodies.

The sub-series making up this main series thus fall into several sets:
- Exercise of the Presidency
- Interinstitutional relations
- Interparliamentary relations
- External relations
- Relations with the press
- Relations with citizens
- Internal relations
- Office of the President

Secretariat of Parliament

PE1 P2 300/SECR

The final series covers all the sub-series illustrating the relations between the General-Secretariat and the Office of the President between 1982 and 1984. The series is therefore arranged, on the one hand, by the internal establishment plan of the time and its five Directorates-General and, on the other, by the various internal EP bodies with which the Cabinet maintained relations: the political group secretariats, the Staff Committee and the trade unions. These documents give a picture of the administrative duties performed and the internal relations maintained by the General-Secretariat.

The sub-series are classified as follows:
- Secretary-General
- Directorate-General for the Registry and General Services
- Directorate-General for Committees and Delegations
- Directorate-General for Information and Public Relations
- Directorate-General for Administration, Personnel and Finance
- Directorate-General for Research and Documentation
- Staff Committee
- Trade unions
- Political group secretariats

Reflections of Former Presidents of the European Parliament: Pieter Dankert

When one reaches the âge de la raison, as the European Community now has, it seems appropriate to consider how further progress can be made. 

Election of Dankert as EP President. Leo C. Tindemans (L), Pieter Dankert (C), and Enrico Vinci (R) © European Union 1982

The concept of 'nothing but the Treaty' which reared its head in the campaign for the first direct elections cannot provide the answer, because a Treaty written in 1957 cannot possibly set out guidelines for the development of European society up to the year 2000. It cannot be the answer because the Europe of Six proved incapable of turning the 1957 texts into concrete policies and the Europe of Ten is even less capable of doing so — not just because it is larger but also because its nature has changed. The juridical reality of the Treaties must be reconciled more closely with the political reality of this Europe of Ten in such a way that the further progress of European integration is ensured and democratic control is made more effective. Only then can the Treaties become the instrument of a joint approach to all those problems which we must solve jointly if we are to retain our credibility to the outside world and also to our own citizens in the European Community. Or should I say 'increase our credibility'? [...]

The Treaties signed on the Capitol in Rome were more than practical instruments designed to put an end to the Franco-German  conflict which had resulted in three wars. They also helped to bring Europeans from the other Member States much closer together. They safeguarded internal Western European security without the need to vote defence budgets to achieve that aim, and the task made necessary by the events of 1914-18 and 1940-45 has been completed; the past has now been forgotten and the question now arises in 1982 as to what extent a past which the European Community has helped to overcome can continue to inspire generations born after 1945 — which now form the majority of our population — to cooperate in a manner which has become an established fact of their lives rather than an ambition to be attained. The conflict is no longer between France and Germany; the confrontation is now between east and west or north and south, and in those particular areas policy is determined more by the national governments than by the Community — at least that is the impression we have. And so the problems which we were unable to solve in 1954 and which we avoided in 1957 by concluding a Treaty which was essentially economic in nature, have, by a roundabout route, reared their head again in a rather different form conditioned by the specific features of our contemporary world. The success of 1957 can be attributed to political motivation and having an eye to the future. In 1982 the Treaties are still much as they were 25 years ago — at least on paper. But in the absence of political motivation among the Europeans and without prospects for the future, they cannot be worth much more than the paper which they are written on. [...]

Pieter Dankert at the election of the EP President during the plenary session in Strasbourg © European Communities 1984

It has already been said that the Community has meant a great deal for its citizens. The growth in the prosperity of the EEC Member States since 1957, a growth which has been unique in history, would scarcely have occurred without the Customs Union and our competition policy. Agricultural policy, which is now in need of renewal, has been of great importance to the modernization of farm holdings and to the substantial reduction in Europe's dependence on fluctuating world markets. The Yaoundé Convention and, above all, the two Lomé Conventions are models of development co-operation of a kind which has not been equalled by any great power. Thanks to the Community, Europe sometimes has an even stronger presence outside our continent than within the EEC itself, although I must add that the realization is slowly growing that the present economic crisis can more easily be remedied by 10 countries than by each individual State going it alone. That realization must be acted upon if Europe is to be developed further. 

The direct elections to the European Parliament in themselves give reason for such further development. Since 1979 each individual elector has been directly involved in the European Community. That in itself has changed the nature of the underlying situation. The Council of Ministers now represents the peoples of Europe less, since it does so less directly, than our Parliament. And that increases the need for effective cooperation between the Council and Parliament. Such cooperation can only be effective if the demands which the electors make of their representatives are honoured by the Council, which means that the Council must strike out in a new direction if it is to exercise its responsibilities to Europe once again. European elections oblige the members of the Council more than ever before, and I quote from the preamble to the Treaty, to show resolve 'to ensure the economic and social progress of their countries by common action to eliminate the barriers which divide Europe'. Now that the confidence in increasing prosperity which gave a free rein to the builders of Europe for 20 years, has given way to anxiety about keeping one's job, the Community can no longer expect to survive with impunity its inability to find European solutions to problems that are insoluble at national level. The reduction of working hours, energy policy, industrial innovation, further coordination of economic policy and the restructuring of certain sectors of industry — the situation in all these areas in 1984 will condition the reaction of a majority of citizens in the elections to the European Parliament and will determine whether or not they are still interested in the European Community. At present the future looks uncertain. The Community is too important to run the risk of rejection by its citizens. Information about the importance of the EEC can help but the main need is for 270 million Europeans to associate their economic and social prospects with the existence of the Community. How can that aim be attained? [...] Our predecessors in 1957 and in the years immediately following proved that the prospects are good as long as there is a guiding ambition. The problems of 1982 are serious enough to warrant an effort to mobilize once again the necessary political will.

Extract from Pieter Dankert’s speech from “Europe 25 Years after the Signature of the Treaties of Rome: Speeches made at the official celebration at the Palais des Académies in Brussels on 29 March 1982”