Joachim Coens

Joachim Coens (born 6 September 1966) is a Belgian politician and businessman who has served as the leader of Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams, a Christian democratic political party, since December 2019. Before politics, he had been managing director of the holding company for the Port de Bruges-Zeebruges. Biography Coens was born in Bruges on 6 September 1966, the son of politician Daniël Coens, who served as a cabinet minister both in Flanders and nationally. Coens studied at the Catholic University of Leuven and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and became a civil engineer. From 1990 to 1995, he was an engineer at BESIX and worked on projects in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. In 1995, Coens ran in the regional elections for the Flemish Parliament in the constituency of Bruges. He was elected, and was re-elected, in the 1999 Belgian regional elections. He resigned his post in March 2001 to become president and director general of the , the company that oversees the Port de Bruges-Zeebruges. He was replaced in the Flemish Parliament by Boudewijn Laloo. From 1995 to 2014, Coens also served as the échevin of the town of Damme, notably in charge of culture, heritage, libraries, urban development, the local economy, budget, finance and sport portfolios. After the accidental death of mayor Dirk Bisschop in May 2014, Coens became interim mayor while also serving as échevin. On 3 June 2014 he was officially named mayor by a majority of the council. In the 2018 Belgian local elections, he ran under the CD&V list and received an absolute majority.