Brussels, 27/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 27 March, Jerzy Bodgan Plewa from Poland was appointed Director General of DG Agriculture and Rural Development at the European Commission. He will take over from José Manuel Silva Rodriguez on 16 April. Plewa, 58, is currently Deputy Director General in DG AGRI responsible for rural development and sustainability policy (since January 2012), and before that (from October 16, 2006) he was Deputy Director General in charge of international affairs in DG AGRI.
From 1995 to 1997, Plewa was director at the Polish department of agriculture, first of all as the head of foreign cultural market monitoring and then at the department of information and research. From 1997 until July 2004, he held the position of Under-Secretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Regional Development, where he was responsible for negotiations on agriculture issues with the EU, other countries and international organisations. During that time, Plewa was also chief negotiator on agricultural affairs in the team negotiating Poland's accession to the European Union. (LC/transl.fl)