Secretariat
Since 1962, the Secretariat has been working on behalf of both Copa and Cogeca. It ensures that the two organisations function smoothly and efficiently and that decisions taken by the Copa and Cogeca Praesidia are implemented.
The Secretariat is made up of approximately 50 members of staff of different nationalities. It provides its national member organisations and European cooperatives with continuous analysis, communication and expert knowledge. To this end, it prepares hundreds of Working Party meetings, reports, working documents and position papers every year. You can find our annual work overview by following this link.
General Secretariat
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Elli Tsiforou
The public face of Copa-Cogeca, responsible for its office leadership and giving direction and clarity to its strategic and policy development.
Patrick Pagani
- Lead Policy and Advocacy Coordination
- Membership and Statutory Matters
- Copa and Cogeca Presidencies and Praesidia Coordination
- Vision for Agriculture and Food
- EU competitiveness and food security
- Policy areas:
Josefina Gonzalo
Mariana Tudor
Policy perspectives and food chain unit
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Paulo Gouveia
- CAP
- EU Budget
- Food Chain
- Congress of European Farmers
- Policy areas:
Camelia Gyorffy
- CAP
- Rural Development
- Economic Analysis
- Policy areas:
Trade Unit
Ksenija Simovic
- Trade
- International Aspects
- Women's Committee
- Policy areas:
Communications Unit
Jean-Baptiste Boucher
Oversees the internal and external communications of Copa-Cogeca, manages public relations, and coordinates farmers’ mobilisations.
Simon Coeckelberghs
- Graphic Design
- Video Editor
- Web Designer
Maëlle Mabecque
- Press Relations
- Community Management
Commodities Team
Bruno Menne
Oversees and coordinates the analysis on policy issues related to sustainable food systems and arable crops (cereals, oilseeds, and protein crops).
- Policy areas:
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Laura Basiacco
Debora Difonzo
Policy
Dominique Dejonckheere
- Energy Policy & Fertilisers
- Renewable Raw Materials
- Biomass, Sugar
- Horticulture
- Fruit and Vegetables, Potatoes
- Dried Fodder
- Seeds
- Policy areas:
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Riccardo Pelani
- Horses
- Dairy
- Sheep and Goat
- Fish
- Honey
- Nitrates
- Animal Health and welfare
- Policy areas:
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Manon Dubois
- Livestock
- Pigmeat, Poultry and Eggs, Beef
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- Flowers and Plants
- Breeding Livestock
- Policy areas:
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Pedro Peña
- Organic Farming
- Rice
- Flowers and Plants
- Tobacco
- EU Projects
- EU Farm Book
- Policy areas:
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Lorenzo Pagni
- Wine
- Spirits
- Olive oil
- Hops
- Fibre
- Flax and Hemp, Cotton
- Policy areas:
Cross-cutting policies in agriculture and forestry team
Oana Neagu
oversees and coordinates the analysis on policy items related to cross-cutting policies in agriculture and forest sector with a focus on food and feed, quality and promotion, plant health, animal health and welfare, environment, climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity, circular bioeconomy, deforestation and sustainable finance.
- Policy areas:
David Montoro Gómez
Emilia Oita
Policy
Paula De Vera
- Plant health
- Animal Health & Welfare
- Policy areas:
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Niall Curley
- Environmental Issues
- Biodiversity, Large carnivores, Pollinators, Invasive alien species, Soil, Water
- Policy areas:
Tamás Racskó
- Plant health
- Policy areas:
Stephen Lennon
- Food Safety, Nutrition and Consumer Information
- Animal Nutrition and Feed Safety
- Quality Assurance
- Promotion of Agricultural Products
- Policy areas:
Irene De Tovar
- Climate Issues
- Climate change, Air, Water, Waste, Emmissions
- Policy areas:
Resilience, Innovation and social affairs team
Umberto Di Pasquo
Leads and coordinates all aspects related to Cooperative affairs.
Policy
Sergi Queralt
- GEOPA-COPA
- Employment and Social Affairs
- European Employers' Institute
- EU Projects
- Policy areas:
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Giuseppe Sirignano
- Research and Innovation
- EU Projects Coordination
- Policy areas:
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Sam Emerson
- Cooperative Policy, Legislation and Governance
- Promotion of the Cooperative Model of Entreprise
- Policy areas:
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Internal Operations
Finance, administration and IT
Nicholas Brown
Leads and oversees all administrative and human resources activities, ensuring effective management, coordination and support services for the organisation.
Gabriella Del Vaglio
- Accounting/Invoicing
- Maintenance/Meeting Rooms
Sebastien Boonen
- IT Coordinator
Isabella Quaglia
- Seminars and Events
- Travel and Catering
Fulvia Ruocco
- Meeting Management
- Stakeholder Relations
- Intranet Manager
- Meeting platform support
- Administrative Support
Aydogan Guler
- Administrative Support
- Operational Assistance
Human Resources
Diane Plessia
Responsible for defining and implementing the human resources strategy, including recruitment, staff development, performance management and organisational policies.
Aïda Triki
Language Service
Giuseppe Ruocco
Oversees and coordinates interpretation and translation services provided to member and partner or affiliated organisations.
Interpretation Team
Marcus McLuskey
- EN
James Harris
- EN
Rosario Gonzalez
- ES
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Rosina Butterworth
- ES
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Cornelia Sorgatz
- DE
Fiona Strohm
- DE
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Laurie Boland
- FR
Lorine Navet
- FR
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Eleonora Bernucci
- IT
Gabriela Danelczyk
- PL
Georgiana Banu
- RO
Robert Nagy-Kulcsár
- RO