Romanian engineer elected as designate agriculture commissioner

A 40-YEAR-OLD Romanian horticultural engineer and politician, Dr Dacian Ciolos, is the new European Commissioner designate for agriculture and rural development.

A former agriculture minister in Romania, he also holds masters and doctorate degrees in the economy of agricultural development.

Dr Ciolos did 13 months worth of internships on organic farms in Brittany and has also worked in rural and agricultural development projects.

In 1997 and 1999, he interned as an agro-economist at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development in Brussels.

He has also served as an adviser to Romania’s agriculture minister, and as a representative in the European Council’s Special Committee on Agriculture. From May to October 2007, he was undersecretary of state for European affairs at the ministry.

Dr Ciolos was appointed Romania’s Agriculture Minister in October 2007. Early this year, he returned to work at the Agriculture and Rural Development DG in the European Commission.

Last month, the Romanian Government nominated him as the country’s EU Commissioner, with president Jose Manuel Barroso allocating him the agriculture and rural development portfolio yesterday.

Dr Ciolos, who will succeed Mariann Fischer Boel in the post, is likely to take office in February, with the other commissioners. They will serve for five years but need the European Parliament’s approval.

Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith said he welcomed the proposed appointment of Dr Ciolos as Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.

“Dacian is a former colleague of mine in the EU Agriculture Council of Ministers, having served as Romanian Minister for Agriculture until December of last year.

“I am pleased to see that such a well-informed professional from one of the smaller member states has been proposed for this challenging post,” he said.

Mr Smith said he was also very pleased at the proposed appointment of Máire Geoghegan Quinn to the portfolio of research and innovation, which are crucially important for the future development of the agri-food sector.