Luxembourg’s Christophe Hansen, who is being considered for the post of Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, will have to try to define a vision for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post-2027, if MEPs give the green light to the proposal put forward on 17 September by President Ursula von der Leyen (see EUROPE 13484/1).
Christophe Hansen is expected to take charge of the agriculture portfolio, while food safety will remain the responsibility of the Commissioner for Health, Hungary’s Olivér Várhelyi, if he passes the hearings in front of the MEPs.
Born in 1982 in Wiltz, Luxembourg, Christophe Hansen, whose father was a farmer, holds a master’s degree in geosciences, environmental sciences and risk management from the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg. He was an adviser to Astrid Lulling MEP concerning agriculture, the environment and economic affairs (between 2007 and 2014). Since September 2018, he has been a member (EPP) of the European Parliament, sitting on the International Trade and Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committees.
During his successive mandates, he was responsible for drafting the European Parliament’s position on the regulation on imported deforestation and on the post-Brexit trade agreement. Since 2015, this polyglot has chaired the union of poultry companies in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Roadmap. Ursula von der Leyen has asked Christophe Hansen to draw up a roadmap for the agriculture sector within the first 100 days of his mandate, i.e. by March 2025. This roadmap could draw on the recommendations made following the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture.
The addition of food to the remit of the Commissioner for Agriculture (replacing the reference to rural development) does not mean that Christophe Hansen will be handling the food safety dossier. Christophe Hansen’s mission statement mentions food security, but places the emphasis on “strengthening food sovereignty”.
Food safety, including new genomic techniques and pesticides, will remain the responsibility of the Commissioner for Health.
The agriculture portfolio will be overseen by the Executive Vice-President responsible for Cohesion and Reform, the Italian Raffaele Fitto. Some see this as the sign of a political change, since in the current mandate, it was the Vice-President for Climate Action who directed the work of the Commissioner for Agriculture.
According to his mission statement, Raffaele Fitto will have to strengthen “the competitiveness, resilience and sustainability of the food and agriculture sector” and support farmers “who need it most”.
Fisheries without environment, a first. Ms von der Leyen proposed the nomination of Costas Kadis from Cyprus for the post of Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans. The outgoing Commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius, was responsible for Oceans, Fisheries and the Environment.
Costas Kadis was his country’s Minister of Agriculture and the Environment between 2018 and 2023. Ursula von der Leyen asked this biologist by training to draw up the first ‘European Oceans Pact’. Ms von der Leyen brings up the concept of ‘Fisheries and Oceans Dialogue’, an idea that has already been tested in agriculture. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)