The European General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives (Cogeca) elected Lennart Nilsson, a member of the board of the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF), as president during a meeting in Brussels on 30 November.
A Swedish farmer and member of the LRF board, Nilsson has been actively involved in his co-op (Lantmännen) at national level and on Copa and Cogeca’s working parties for several years. He will be replacing Ramon Armengol from Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias of Spain, whose four-year term ends in January.
“I’m well aware of the responsibility I’ll have to shoulder in the months ahead,” he said following the election. “The obstacles we’ve had to face in recent years have been numerous, from the consequences of the Covid crisis to the war in Ukraine to galloping inflation. I would like to thank Ramon Armengol for the way he has led our organisation through these difficult times. I intend to continue his work, particularly involving young farmers in the co-operative movement all across the EU.”
He added: “We have a lot of challenges for the future. We hope farmers and co-operatives can be part of the discussion at the EU level concerning the solutions. We have several possibilities to provide the EU with good, safe food, but also energy and biomass. Co-operatives will play a key role in the green transitions.”
In addition to Nilsson, six vice-presidents, were also elected: Agnieszka Maliszewska (Federacja Branżowych Związków Producentów Rolnych, Poland), Leonardo Pofferi (Alleanza delle Cooperative Italiane, Italy), Florentin Bercu (Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation, Romania), Mickael Marcerou (La Coopération Agricole, France), Christian Høegh-Andersen (Landbrug & Fødevarer, Denmark) and Idalino Leão (Confederacão Nacional das Cooperativas Agrícolas e do Crédito Agrícola de Portugal, Portugal).
