Background
Van Orden was born in Waterlooville, Hampshire in 1945.
Member of the European Parliament politician
Van Orden was born in Waterlooville, Hampshire in 1945.
He attended the Mons Officer Cadet School and was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1964.
He was first elected to the in 1999. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1966, Captain in 1970, Major in 1977, Lieutenant-Colonel in 1983, Colonel in 1988, and Brigadier in 1991. He served worldwide as part of the British Army from 1964 to 1985.
In 1990 he worked as part of the Assessment Staff for the Joint Intelligence Committee in London.
From 1991 to 1994 he served as the Executive Secretary of International Military Staff at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels, his final military appointment. In 1995 he was appointed as a senior official in the European Commission for foreign and security policy issues.
Defence and security
Following his election to the, Van Orden became the Conservatives" spokesman for Defence and Security policy. Foreign relations
Since 2002 he has been the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
During the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union, Van Orden was the rapporteur for Bulgaria in the, and regularly reported on the progress of the country with regard to European Union membership requirements.
His final report in November 2006 confirmed Bulgaria"s preparedness to join the European Union.
Van Orden has said he is a eurosceptic. Whilst at the same time believing in and facilitating enlargement of the European Union. He is opposed to British membership of the euro, the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and the Treaty of Lisbon.
He is currently Member of the for the East of England region for the Conservative Party. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) aged just 27. He held this post until 1999, when he was elected as a Member of the for the Conservative Party.
In addition he is member of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence and the Delegation for relations with Iran in the Seventh He is a member of the Countryside Alliance and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Van Orden is founding president of the New Direction — The Foundation for European Reform think tank and is also a member of the Bow Group think tank.