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Maggie De Block

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Maggie De Block
Minister of Health
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 October 2014
Prime MinisterCharles Michel
Sophie Wilmès
Preceded byLaurette Onkelinx
Minister of Justice
In office
25 July 2014 – 11 October 2014
Prime MinisterElio Di Rupo
Preceded byAnnemie Turtelboom
Succeeded byKoen Geens
State Secretary of Asylum, Migration, Social Integration, and Poverty Reduction
In office
6 December 2011 – 11 October 2014
Prime MinisterElio Di Rupo
Preceded byMelchior Wathelet (Asylum and Migration)
Philippe Courard (Social Integration and Poverty Reduction)
Succeeded byTheo Francken (Asylum, Migration, and Reduction of Administrative Burden)
Elke Sleurs (Poverty Reduction, Fraud Combat, and Science Policy)
Personal details
Born (1962-04-28) 28 April 1962 (age 62)
Merchtem, Belgium
Political partyOpen VLD (2007–present)
VLD (1999–2007)

Maggie Celine Louise De Block ([ˈmɛɡi sɛˈlin luˈis də ˈblɔk], born 28 April 1962) is a Belgian politician, doctor and member of the Open VLD.[1] She held the portfolio of Minister of Social Affairs and Health in the Michel Government. Following a reshuffle on 9 December 2018 to prevent the government's collapse, she additionally resumed responsibility for Asylum and Migration.[2]

Early life and career

Maggie Celine Louise De Block was born in Merchtem, Province of Brabant (present-day Flemish Brabant) on 28 April 1962.[3] She was the first child (of the three children) born of Jan De Block who worked at the Belgian railway company the SNCB. After her first brother was born her mother became a housewife to carry the children. When she was seven her father has passed away in a car accident. Five months later her mother gave birth to Maggie's second brother who they called Jan after their father. She went to the former secondary school Koninklijk Lyceum (now Lyceum Martha Somers Brussel) in Laeken. After her graduation, she studied medicine at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Still a student in 1982, De Block married[3] Luc Asselman. They have two children.[4] She graduated as a family doctor.[3][4]

Political career

In 1999 De Block nominated herself for the federal election as member of the liberal party Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten also known as VLD.[3] During the elections, she was elected as a Member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives for the electoral district Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. De Block was an MP between 1999 and 2011. Four years after the election she became Secretary of the Chamber of Representatives for four years. In 2010 De Block also became Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee until the following year.[4] De Block was chosen to become Secretary of State for Asylum, Immigration, and Social Integration in the newly Di Rupo Government which would be formed in December 2011.[5] On 6 December she becomes Secretary of State for Asylum, Immigration, and Social Integration and part of the Federal Government.[6][7]

In December 2012, she became the vice-chair of the Open VLD party.[8] She later became Minister of Justice charged with Asylum, Immigration, Social Integration, and Poverty Reduction in the Di Rupo Government in July 2014.[9]

In March 2013, she was voted woman of the year by readers of the francophone newspaper La Libre Belgique.[10] In 2013 and 2014 polls, she became the most popular Flemish politician, ahead of the Minister-President of Flanders Kris Peeters.[11]

In the Michel Government formed in October 2014, she became Minister of Social Affairs and Health. When taking the oath, she described the portfolio as "her dream".[12] Critics have said that she does not set the right example as Health Minister due to her obesity, and she has answered that "I know I'm not a model but you have to see what's inside, not the packaging".[13] In the position, she was involved in coordinating the Belgian response to the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.

In 2015, she became the most popular politician in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels - making her the most popular politician in Belgium.[14]

In 2018, under her direction as health minister, the strategic reserve of FFP2 masks was destroyed because of being out of date and not replenished. DeBlock claimed she did not replenish them to save taxpayer money. This decision came under fire during the Coronavirus pandemic when the shortage of masks contributed to make Belgium one of the hardest-hit countries.[15][16]

In September 2018 she decided to introduce plain packaging for all tobacco products in Belgium.

On 9 December 2018, it was announced that de Block would be responsible again for Asylum and Migration, replacing Theo Francken.[2] She held the post in a previous government.[17]

Her official title since then is Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, and Asylum Policy and Migration.[18]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Madame Maggie De Block". Belgium.be. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Belgium sets up minority government after migration dispute breaks coalition". POLITICO. 2018-12-09. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  3. ^ a b c d "Levenslijn" [Lifeline]. maggiedeblock.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Maggie De Block: Minister van Sociale Zaken en Volksgezondheid, en van Asiel en Migratie" [Maggie De Block: Minister of Social Affairs and Health, and of Asylum and Migration]. deblock.belgium.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Wie Heeft Welke Rol in Regering-Di Rupo?" [Who Has What Role in Government-Di Rupo?]. VRT NWS. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Regeringsonderhandelingen: Een Calvarie van 545 Dagen" [Government Negotiations: A 545-Day Calvary]. De Morgen (in Dutch). 10 December 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Ms Maggie De Block Appointed as State Secretary for Migration and Asylum Policy". emnbelgium.be. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Gwendolyn Rutten Nieuwe Voorzitter Open VLD" [Gwendolyn Rutten New Chairman of the Open VLD]. VRT NWS (in Dutch). 8 December 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  9. ^ Maggie De Block CV. Retrieved on 2014-09-15.
  10. ^ "Maggie De Block, Femme de l'année de LaLibre.be". La Libre. 8 Mar 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Maggie De Block is populairste politicus". deredactie.be. 12 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Maggie De Block: "Dit is een droom die uitkomt"". Het Laatste Nieuws. 11 October 2014.
  13. ^ "Is she too fat to be a Health Minister?". Mirror.
  14. ^ lbo. "Maggie De Block nu ook populairste in Wallonië en Brussel". De Standaard (in Dutch).
  15. ^ "Coronavirus : la Belgique, toujours en manque de masques, possédait un stock important mais l'a détruit". Le Monde.fr (in French). 25 March 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Coronavirus: former health minister slams mask destruction". The Brussels Times. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Belgium's PM reshuffles cabinet after N-VA quits in migration row". dpa International. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  18. ^ Belgian Federal Government. Retrieved on 2019-06-12.
  19. ^ arrêtés royaux du 21 mai 2014

Media related to Maggie De Block at Wikimedia Commons

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Justice
2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Social Affairs and Health
2014–present 		Incumbent
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