Joannes Gerardus Wijn (born 20 May 1969 in Haarlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

) was Minister of Economic Affairs in the third Balkenende cabinet

Third Balkenende cabinet

The third Balkenende cabinet was formed on 7 July 2006 after a crisis in and the subsequent resignation of the second Balkenende cabinet. This demissionary minority cabinet of Christian Democratic Appeal and People's Party for Freedom and Democracy was negotiated by former prime minister Ruud...

 of the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

Wijn has a masters degree in both economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 and Dutch law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 from the University of Amsterdam

Universiteit van Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam or the UvA is a public research university located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Founded in 1632 as the Athenaeum Illustre by the scholars Gerardus Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus, it is the third-oldest university in the Netherlands...

. As a student he worked as an intern with Shell in Jakarta, Indonesia. He also worked as an economics teacher and started his own company, a search and selection agency. After his graduation in 1994, he was employed by ABN Amro

ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...

 as an investment manager, responsible for the financing of innovative companies in transition, e.g. start ups, expansion and management buy outs.

In 1998, he became a member of parliament for the Christian Democrats (CDA

Christian Democratic Appeal

The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

). As an MP he focused on public finances, small businesses and immigration politics. He was also one of the few CDA MPs that voted in favour of a law making same-sex marriages legal in the Netherlands

Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands

Same-sex marriage has been legal in the Netherlands since 1 April 2001...

. The debate about same-sex marriage caused friction between his personal life and his political affiliation, as Wijn himself is gay.

In July 2002, Wijn became junior minister (staatssecretaris) for Economic Affairs in the first Balkenende cabinet

First Balkenende cabinet

The first cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende was in office in the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 until 16 October of the same year. The term of 87 days was the shortest since the fifth cabinet of Hendrikus Colijn .Following the 15 May 2002...

, responsible for foreign trade. In the second Balkenende cabinet he was junior Minister of Finance, and among other things responsible for the functioning of the Internal Revenue Service

Internal Revenue Service

The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...

. He transformed the IRS into an organisation that not only collects but also redistributes funds, e.g. for healthcare expenses, rent support and child benefits. His platform was the reduction of red tape and the promotion of tax benefits for families with children.

Wijn left politics after a new cabinet was installed. He was asked at an earlier stage by the CDA party leadership to take on the parliamentary leadership of his party, but Wijn already declined that position in August.

In June 2007 Joop Wijn became a director of Rabobank

Rabobank

Rabobank is a financial services provider with offices worldwide. Their main location is in the Netherlands. They are a global leader in Food and Agri financing and in sustainability-oriented banking...

Nederland, in 2009 Gerrit Zalm ask him to join the ABN-AMRO which he did.