During the joint Praesidia of Copa and Cogeca on Thursday 27th June, the members of the two European based organisations decided to appoint Elli Tsiforou as head of their joint General Secretariat. Her candidacy was unanimously approved due to her long-standing knowledge of the mechanics of the EU and national agricultural policies and organisations. Elli Tsiforou will take up her duties in September.
Following a recruitment process launched in February 2024 after the departure of the former Secretary-General, Pekka Pesonen, the representatives of all the EU’s agricultural cooperatives and farmers’ organisations unanimously decided to entrust the reins of the organisation to Elli Tsiforou; becoming the first woman to hold the position since the Secretariat’s conception in 1962.
The Presidents of Copa and Cogeca, Christiane Lambert and Lennart Nilsson, stated, “Elli Tsiforou will bring her personal qualities, her vision for agriculture and her knowledge of Copa-Cogeca, European institutions and a strong involvement with farmers and cooperatives at national level. Elli Tsiforou’s arrival comes at the right time, at the start of a new political cycle in which agriculture will have to be put back at the core of the public debates. We would also like to thank Deputy Secretary-General Patrick Pagani and the Copa-Cogeca teams who will continue to manage the organisation’s transition as they have succeeded in doing during this very special year of 2024”.
After studying media and communication studies in her native Greece and France, Elli Tsiforou devoted her career to defending the interests of farmers and cooperatives at European and national level. Successively becoming policy advisor to the European and Hellenic Parliaments and Chief of Staff in the office of the Greek Minister for Tourism and Culture, Elli Tsiforou has been involved in GAIA Epicheirein for the last 10 years working for the defence of Greek farmers and cooperatives at national and European level, first as Head of EU Affairs and subsequently as Director General and CEO. Closely involved in the Copa-Cogeca Working Parties, Elli Tsiforou has also been Chairwoman of the Cooperative Coordination Committee (CCC) of Cogeca since 2020, a role in which she has distinguished herself through her dynamism and her ability to bring out compromises amongst its members.
Elli Tsiforou will take up her post as of September 2024. Until then, Patrick Pagani will continue being responsible for the Copa-Cogeca Secretariat.
Fonte: Copa Cogeca
