Brussels, 25/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - Danish national Martin Merrild was elected president of Copa in Brussels on Friday 25 September.
Martin Merrild will be the president of the organisation representing European farmers for the next two years, with as his priorities cutting red tape and better prices for farmers.
The new Copa chief said that among the challenges facing farmers are the surpluses on the markets for a number of products (including milk, beef, pork and fruit and vegetables) and low prices, particularly in the dairy industry (milk costs consumers less than water so there is clearly a problem, he pointed out). He hoped the EU would do its utmost to get Russia to lift its embargo on EU farm products and to win new export markets in Asia.
The Dane called for more free-trade with fair rules and said he would continue Copa's proactive line vis-a-vis the current EU trade talks with the US (TTIP) and would ensure that high production standards are respected. He will also apply greater pressure for the conclusion of the trade talks with Japan.
Another important area in his view is tackling climate change, which must damage the production of food because reducing food production will not solve the problem of climate change. “Global food production is expected to drop by 17% for each degree of temperature rise as a consequence of more extreme weather such as drought and flooding. Producing more with less will be the key words,” he added.
Merrild (who was the only candidate for the post as head of Copa) has been president of the Danish Agriculture and Food Council (DAFC) since 2012. Six new vice-presidents were elected (from a shortlist of ten), namely Eddie Downey (Irish Farmers' Association, Ireland); Roberto Moncalvo (Coldiretti National Confederation of Active Farmers, Italy); Henri Brichart (National Federation of Farmers' Unions, France); Maira Dzelzkalçja (Farmers' Parliament, Latvia); Franz Reisecker (Chambers of Agriculture, Austria) and Miklós Zsolt Kis (Chambers of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Hungary). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)