Frederik (Frits) Bolkestein (*1933, Netherlands) is a Dutch politician (VVD) and from 1999 until 2004 was EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Taxation and Customs Union. He studied mathematics and physics, philosophy and Greek in Amsterdam, mathematics also in the USA. Between 1960 and 1976 he worked for Shell as manager in various foreign postings including in Africa, Indonesia, Honduras, El Salvador, Great Britain and France. There he was a member of the board of Shell Chimie in Paris. At the start of his career with Shell he studied law in Leiden and economics in London. From 1978 until 1982 he was a member of parliament for the liberal party in the Dutch parliament and from 1990 until 1998 chairman of the parliamentary group, from 1982 to 1986 Minister of Foreign Trade of the Netherlands and from 1988 until 1989 Defence Minister. From 1999 until 2004 he was Commissioner for the Internal Market, Taxation and Customers Union at the European Commission. His last important official act was the submission of a draft European service provision guideline.