The European Commission has announced its new line-up following the EU elections in June.
The new Food and Agriculture Commissioner has a family background in farming, an academic background in the environment, and a political career built around both. He is a strong advocate of sustainability, including the EUDR.
Who is Christophe Hansen?
The new food and agriculture commissioner is Christophe Hansen, a Luxembourgish politician and member of the European People’s Party (EPP), the centre-right grouping within the EU.
He has a background in agriculture. Both his father and brother are farmers. He continued his interest in environmental affairs through his career, attaining a Master’s Degree in Geosciences, Environmental Sciences and Risk Management from Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg. Then, between 2007 and 2014, he advised the MEP Astrid Lulling on issues related to agriculture, the environment, and monetary and economic affairs.
When Luxembourg had the EU council presidency in 2015, he chaired the Council Working Party on the environment, heading discussions on issues such as the EU-ETS reform and the Circular Economy proposal.
In 2018, he became an MEP. As an MEP, he served on the committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
What does he believe?
Hansen has expressed positive views of sustainability measures. He is strong supporter of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), suggesting he would want the US to follow suit with a similar regulation.
In 2022, Hansen pushed for the inclusion of corn, palm oil derivatives, poultry, pork and mutton within the scope of the regulation, as well as other ecosystems such as marshland and Brazil’s Cerrado (the world’s most biodiverse Savannah).
However, he did admit that securing the geolocation data will be a challenge, and advocated for providing support to smallholder farmers.
What challenges does he face?
Recent farmer protests throughout Europe against EU agricultural policies have put the commission at odds with many farmers in recent months. Hansen must grapple with these issues.
In a mission letter, commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the key priorities that Hansen has ahead of him.
He must ensure the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is ‘fit for purpose’ and provides ‘targeted support’ for farmers, especially small-scale farmers. CAP makes up a third of the EU’s budget.
He is also instructed to implement the EU-wide benchmarking system, as per the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture, which will aim to harmonise sustainability assessments for on-farm.
The mission letter also includes instructions for making capital easier to access by young farmers and family farms, as well as to focus on combatting the ‘targeted spread of disinformation’ in rural areas.
The letter emphasises the importance of diversifying and reducing imports of critical commodities, in order to contribute to Europe’s food sovereignty.