Former Shell chief Jeroen van der Veer has been appointed vice-chairman of a Nato committee charged with examining the future role of the organisation.

The 12-member committee will be headed by former US foreign affairs minister Madeleine Albright.
The appointment by the new Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Ramussen underlines the fact that the Netherlands’ is an ‘active and engaged player’ in the alliance, says Dutch foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen on the department’s website.
Van der Veer was nominated for the job by the Netherlands but will operate independently, the website says.