Johannes Hendrik Mattheus (Matthijs) van Bonzel - His Excellency the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Romania

Born:               Utrecht, 15 February 1956

Education:       Law Studies, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands (1980)

                      Masters of Law, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, US.A. (1981)
 

Mr. Matthijs van Bonzel specialised during his studies in Utrecht and Michigan University on international economic integration and world trade affairs.

After his law studies he worked as an apprentice at the European Commission in Brussels, on Development Policies.

Mr Van Bonzel joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1982. He was posted at the Ministry’s NATO Department in The Hague, and subsequently, in 1985, at the Netherlands Embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica, co-ordinating development co-operation and refugee aid in the region of Central America.

From 1989 on, Mr Van Bonzel was active in various functions in the European Integration Department; he was a member of the negotiating team for the EU-Treaty of Maastricht 1991, and was head of the negotiating team for the EU-Treaty of Amsterdam 1997.

From 1997 to 2001 Mr Van Bonzel was Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union in Brussels, and after that, Head of the Political Section of the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin, Germany.

From 2005 to July 2008 Mr Van Bonzel was Minister Plenipotentiary and Head of the Economic Section at the Netherlands Embassy in Tokyo, Japan.

He was Ambassador of The Netherlands to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Panama, with residence in San Jose, Costa Rica.

He is now Ambassador of The Netherlands to Romania.