Louse Wies Sija Anne Lilly Berthe "Lousewies" van der Laan (born 18 February 1966) is a retired Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. Life before politics In her youth, Van der Laan lived in Belgium, Germany, and the United States. She finished high school at the German School in Washington, DC. She obtained the International Baccalaureate at Armand Hammer United World College of the American West (In Montezuma, New Mexico). After graduating in 1984, Van der Laan moved to the Netherlands to study law at the University of Leiden. She specialized in International and European Law and graduated in 1990. Between 1990 and 1991 she studied international relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University at Bologna. After an internship at Greenpeace in Brussels, she became an intern at the cabinet of Dutch European Commissioner Frans Andriessen. Between 1991 and 1994 she worked for TACIS of the European Commission, where she was responsible for environmental projects. In 1995 she worked as an environmental specialist for the EBRD in London. Between 1995 and 1997 she worked for the Cabinet of Dutch European Commissioner for External Relations, Hans van den Broek. In 1997 she became his spokesperson. Political life In 1999 she became head of the D66 list for the European elections. She became chairwoman of the parliamentary party and member of the parliamentary party board of the ELDR. In the European Parliament she was active on a range of issue focusing on civil liberties, environmental affairs, budget and international relations. In the European Parliament she was vice-chairwoman of the Committee on Budget Control between 1999 and 2002, vice-chairwoman of the Committee on Liberties and Civil Rights, Justice and Home Affairs between 2002 and 2003. She was member of the Committee on the Rights of the Woman and Equal Chances between 1999 and 2003, the delegation for relations with the Palestinian Authority between 1999 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002 she was a substitute for the Committee on Environmental Protection, Public Health and Consumers' Policy and a substitute for the delegation for relations with Slovakia. Between 2002 and 2003 she was a substitute for the Budget Committee. She founded the Intergroup on Food Safety, the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform. In 2003 she switched to the Dutch Parliament. She was the spokeswoman of her party on foreign policy, higher education, justice, technology,