During the joint Praesidia of Copa and Cogeca yesterday, Thursday, June 27, the members of the two organizations based in Europe decided to appoint Elli Tsiforou as head of their joint General Secretariat. Tsiforou, who will take up her duties from September 2024, thus becomes the first woman to hold this post since the Secretariat’s birth in 1962: His candidacy was unanimously approved due to his extensive knowledge of the mechanisms of EU and national agricultural policies and organisations. Until next September, Patrick Pagani will continue to be responsible for the secretariat of the Copa-Cogeca.

Following a recruitment process initiated in February 2024 after the departure of the previous Secretary-General, Pekka Pesonen, representatives of all agricultural cooperatives and farmers' organisations in the EU unanimously decided to hand over the reins to Elli Tsiforou. 

The presidents of the Copa and Cogeca, respectively Christiane Lambert and Lennart Nilsson, said: "Tsiforou will bring his personal qualities, his vision of agriculture and his knowledge of the Copa-Cogeca, the European institutions and a strong involvement with farmers and cooperatives at the national level. The arrival of Tsiforou comes at the right moment, at the beginning of a new political cycle in which agriculture must return to the center of public debates. We would also like to thank the Deputy Secretary General Patrick Pagani and the Copa-Cogeca teams who will continue to manage the transition of the organization as they managed to do in this very special year of 2024".

After studying media and communication in Greece and France, Elli Tsiforou dedicated his career to defending the interests of farmers and cooperatives at European and national level: She was a political adviser to the European Parliament and the Greek Parliament, and head of the Greek Minister for Tourism and Culture. In the last ten years she has been involved in Gaia Epicheirein, working for the defense of Greek farmers and cooperatives at national and European level, first as Head of European Affairs and then as general manager and ceo. 

Involved in the working groups of the Copa-Cogeca, Tsiforou is also President of the Cooperative Coordination Committee (CCC) of Cogeca since 2020, a role in which it has distinguished itself for its dynamism and its ability to bring out compromises among its members.