Born on 3 September 1958, Peter van Dalen is a Dutch politician, lecturer, director, religious freedom defender and fighter against antisemitism. Since 2009, he is a Member of the European Parliament on behalf of his national party, the Christian Union. In this current mandate, he is a Member of the European People’s Party Group in the European Parliament. Peter van Dalen holds a master’s degree from the University of Utrecht in International Relations, the History of War, and Contemporary History, in addition to a Law degree. After his studies, he worked as a history, historiography and political science teacher. He also worked as an assistant to both a Dutch MP and MEP. From 1990-2009, Van Dalen worked as a civil servant with the Inspectorate for Transport, Public Works and Water Management and finally as Director of the Shipping Inspectorate. In his current third term at the European Parliament (2019-2024), Peter van Dalen is the first Vice-Chair of the Committee on Fisheries (PECH), and a Member of both the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DEVE) and the Delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia. Peter van Dalen is co-Founder and co-Chairman of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance. MEP since 2009.