COPA-COGECA ( / Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations-General Confederation of

Agricultural Cooperatives An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperati ...

), is the union of the two big

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

umbrella organisations COPA and COGECA and the strongest interest group for European farmers. Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Brussels, its activity focus is on the Common Agricultural Policy and other policy areas relevant to farmers and agri-cooperatives, such as:

food safety Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a similar illness resulting from t ...

, animal health and welfare, plant health, environment, research and innovation, trade etc.. The current President of COPA is FNSEA President Christiane Lambert from France (since 2020),the current president of COGECA is Ramon Armengol of th
cooperativas agro-alimentarias
(since 2019), the Secretary General is Pekka Pesonen from Finland (since 2012).

History

On 6 September 1958, the first European representative organisation, COPA, was created. On 24 September 1959, the agricultural cooperatives of the European Community created the European umbrella organisation, COGECA. COPA's Secretariat was established in Brussels on 1 April 1959, merging with that of COGECA on 1 December 1962. The COPA-COGECA opposed the European Union–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement. The COPA-COGECA said the impact of the free trade deal would be "devastating on the European farming family model".

References

External links

*{{homepage, https://copa-cogeca.eu/
Comité des Organisations Professionnelles Agricoles de la UE
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures

Archives of Comité des Organisations Professionnelles Agricoles de la UE
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ODIS - Online Database for Intermediary Structures
Cross-European advocacy groups Agricultural organisations based in Belgium Lobbying in the European Union