Name Luuk Middelaar | ||
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Books The Passage to Europe: How a Continent Became a Union, The Future of Democracy in Europe | ||
Luuk Johannes van Middelaar (born 9 May 1973 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch historian and political philosopher who was a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie - VVD), which is the biggest conservative-liberal formation in the Netherlands. From December 2009 to 2014 Van Middelaar was member of the cabinet of Herman Van Rompuy, the first President of the European Council.
He studied history and philosophy at the University of Groningen and the Centre Raymond Aron of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. In 1999 his masters thesis (doctoraalscriptie in Dutch) "Politicide" was published. He became for a time the political adviser and speechwriter of Frits Bolkestein and Jozias van Aartsen. From August 2008 to December 2009 he had a political column in NRC Handelsblad. In 2009 he got his Ph.D from the University of Amsterdam. Subject of his doctoral thesis was the origins and development of the European Union.
Van Middelaar was awarded the Prix de Paris (Prize of Paris) in 1999 and the Prijs voor de Vrijheid (Prize of Liberty) in 2002 for his contributions to liberal thought.
In December 2012 he was awarded the European Book Prize for The passage to Europe - History of a Beginning.
In 2015 Van Middelaar was appointed professor Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
