Van de Camp was born on 27 July 1953 in Oss, Netherlands where his parents had an agricultural business. After secondary school, he went to the Higher Agricultural School of Tropical Agriculture in Deventer where he obtained his engineering degree in 1976. He continued his studies in 1982 at the University of Nijmegen where he studied Law.
Because of his early interest in politics, he joined the KVP-Jo, the youth association of the KVP. Between 1978 and 1981, he was President of this association. He then became Vice President of the CDJA, the youth organization of the CDA which arose in 1981 from a merger between the CSF-Jo, ARJOS and CHJO. Later, from 1981 until 1986, he was a member of the national CDA Party administration..
Van de Camp was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives from 1986 until 2009. In this function, he worked mainly on education and justice. He was also Chairman of the standing committees Home Affairs and Education, Culture and Science.[1]
Because of his experience within the Dutch House of Representatives, Wim van de Camp played a prominent role in the guidance of new Dutch Members of Parliament. The 'class of Wim' became a real concept in The Hague. He trained several generations of (CDA) politicians.[1]
In 1998, Wim van de Camp wrote a Party manifesto on safety entitled "Providing Opportunities, Putting Boundaries'. In his text he called for, among other things, the reduction of the criminal liability age from twelve to ten.[1]
Wim van de Camp is an avid motorcyclist. He also brings this passion to his work as an MEP. On 5 December 2012, the European Parliament adopted legislation to oblige the installation of an ABS on all motor vehicles. Wim van de Camp drafted the text for this report. He also expressed his negative opinion on a European Commission proposal that would make annual vehicle inspection mandatory for all motorcycles. According to him, both the direct costs for the rider and the administrative costs would be too high compared to the number of accidents (0.01%) that occur due to poorly maintained vehicles.[7]
Electoral history
A (possibly incomplete) overview of Dutch elections Van de Camp participated in
Underline signifies the parliamentary leader (first mentioned) and the Speaker Angle brackets signify a replacement member or a member who prematurely left this House of Representatives