Michiel P. Hoogeveen (born 6 July 1989) is a Dutch politician of the right-wing conservative JA21 party. He started his career in the financial sector and as a freelance North Korea researcher. He became a member of Forum for Democracy (FVD) in 2016 and was elected to the States of South Holland three years later. He left the party in 2020 and subsequently joined JA21, which he represented in the European Parliament as part of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) between April 2021 and July 2024.
Hoogeveen has worked at several banks including KAS Bank and he served as an independent researcher of North Korea at the same time.[7][8][9] He traveled to the country three times between 2014 and 2017.[10]
In a 2016 opinion piece, he called the policies of the West and the United Nations to stop North Korea's nuclear weapons program a failure, saying that the condemnations and sanctions following nuclear tests were not having any effect. He instead called for diplomatic talks with North Korea.[11] A book by Hoogeveen called Het kluizenaarskoninkrijk: Over de opkomst en toekomst van Noord-Korea (The hermit kingdom: about the rise and future of North Korea) was published by Blue Tiger in 2018. He has told that the book was intended to stop the flood of disinformation, and he managed to paint a nuanced picture of North Korea "without glossing over Kim Jong-un's dictatorship" according to one review in Trends magazine.[12] Hoogeveen has also served on the board of Pugwash Netherlands, an organization addressing weapons of mass destruction.[6]
A crisis broke out within the party in November 2020 after newspaper Het Parool had written that antisemitic, Nazi, and homophobic thoughts were being held and expressed by members of Forum for Democracy's youth wing.[18] An internal election was subsequently held to determine the future of Thierry Baudet. Hoogeveen called on members to vote him out. After Baudet had received support from a majority of the voters in December, Hoogeveen left the party. He decided to keep his seat, and he was joined by four more States of South Holland members of FVD.[19] He later joined the splinter party JA21 and kept his position as press officer and political adviser, as Eppink, Roos, and Rooken had all joined that party as well.[4]
He was JA21's ninth candidate in the 2021 general election, but he was not elected to the House of Representatives due to the party winning three seats.[4] Hoogeveen personally received 337 preference votes.[20] Derk Jan Eppink had been the third candidate and was thus elected to the House, leaving a vacant seat in the European Parliament for Hoogeveen to fill.[21] He was installed on 15 April as part of the European Conservatives and Reformists political group and left the States of South Holland the following month.[2][22] Hoogeveen became JA21's spokesperson for economic and monetary affairs, international trade, and gender equality, and he was on the following committees and delegations:[9][22]
In 2022, during a period of high inflation, Hoogeveen blamed high government spending and monetary policy.[7] He represented the European Parliament in negotiations over reforms of European Long Term Investment Funds, and he became shadow rapporteur on a proposal by the European Commission to introduce a digital euro. Hoogeveen opposed the latter, calling it "a solution looking for a problem". He said it could cause confusion, undermining trust in the financial system, and he raised concerns about a possible bank run.[23][24][25] He was rapporteur on a regulation mandating that money transfers between European banks take no longer than ten seconds.[26] Besides, Hoogeveen continued to criticize the West's approach towards North Korea; he said denuclearization of North Korea would not be achieved through directly demanding it. He instead proposed to normalize relations such that they would feel safe to lower their defenses.[10]
Hoogeveen ran for re-election in June 2024 as JA21's lead candidate. The party's vote share of 0.65% was insufficient to secure a seat in the European Parliament, and Hoogeveen's term ended on 15 July 2024.[22][27]
Personal life
While a Member of the European Parliament, Hoogeveen moved from Leiden to nearby Oegstgeest.[4][16]
