Frans Timmermans

Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus Maria Timmermans (born 6 May 1961) is a Dutch politician who was the leader of GroenLinks–PvdA in the House of Representatives from 2023 to 2025. From 2019 to 2023, Timmermans was Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal and European Commissioner for Climate Action in the von der Leyen I Commission. Prior to that, he was First Vice-President under Jean-Claude Juncker (2014–2019), overseeing Better Regulation, Interinstitutional Relations, the Rule of Law, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. He was also the Party of European Socialists’ lead candidate for the European Commission presidency in the 2019 European elections. Before his roles in Brussels, Timmermans served as Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012–2014) in the Second Rutte cabinet and as State Secretary for European Affairs (2007–2010) in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet. He was a member of the House of Representatives for the Labour Party from 1998 to 2007 and again from 2010 to 2012. Earlier in his career, from 1987 to 1998, he worked as a diplomat in the Dutch foreign service. Timmermans resigned from the European Commission in 2023 to lead the joint GroenLinks–PvdA alliance in the 2023 Dutch general election. The alliance emerged as the second-largest parliamentary group, with Timmermans now serving as its leader in the House of Representatives. After disappointing results at the 2025 general election, Timmermans announced his resignation as leader of the alliance.