On the Benelux Royals MB a poster called Henri M. did a longer post about this which I shall post here. He does not reveal his source though.
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'The Machiavelli Foundation has awarded prof. mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven, the spouse of Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands with the Machiavelli Prize 2005.
Prof. mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven is awarded for his never ending efforts to set causes of importance succesfully in the spotlight of both media and politics. He is also alsways able to formulate complicated dossiers in a most clear and correct way, giving a boost to proper communication with the public, the media and the politics.
Professor Van Vollenhoven is closely involved in the field of safety assurance, both at home and abroad.
In 1975 he was invited to act as advisor on road safety to the Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management.
He has chaired the following organisations:
• the Road Safety Council
• the Railway Accidents Council
• the Community, Safety and Police Association
• the National Road Safety Fund
• the Council for the Promotion of Safety Impact Studies
• the Transport Safety Board and
• the Safety Investigation Board.
Professor Van Vollenhoven is one of the University’s first professors from practice. The University wishes to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of experts from the business community, government and the health care sector. With his expertise and experience, Professor van Vollenhoven can make a valuable contribution to teaching and research in the field of risk management, in particular the role of independent policy research.
Since February 2005, Professor Van Vollenhoven has been Chairman of the Safety Investigation Board, which is responsible for independent safety investigations in the broadest sense. It carries out investigations not only in the transport sector, but also in sectors such as defence, industry, health care, nature and the environment. The Safety Investigation Board’s predecessor was the Transport Safety Board, which Professor Van Vollenhoven also chaired. This body carried out independent investigations into the causes of serious accidents or incidents in all transport sectors.
The Community, Safety and Police Association
Professor Van Vollenhoven is also Chairman of the Community, Safety and Police Association, an independent organisation that advises on safety issues. The Association is interested in every aspect of safety assurance involving or of importance to the police. Its mission is to contribute to the public debate on improving safety and safety assurance. Professor Van Vollenhoven also occupies a number of international posts in the field of transport safety.
• He is co-founder and a member of the Board of Directors of the European Transport Safety Council.
• He is co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the International Transportation Safety Association, in which all transport safety boards are combined.
• From 1990 he spent a few years acting as advisor to Dr Karel van Miert, the European Commissioner for Transport.
• In 2004, Mr Van Vollenhoven was invited to join the Group of Experts on Accident Investigation, which advises the European Commission. '
