When EU agriculture ministers gather in Valletta this weekend for their informal meeting of the Maltese presidency, the French seat will be occupied by Jacques Mézard, the 69-year-old senator President Emmanuel Macron appointed to the agriculture portfolio this Wednesday.Mézard belongs to a small left-of-centre party and is a career politician from the Massif Central area, the mountainous core of France’s suckler farming industry. His region is also home to many dairy and sheep farmers.
When EU agriculture ministers gather in Valletta this weekend for their informal meeting of the Maltese presidency, the French seat will be occupied by Jacques Mézard, the 69-year-old senator President Emmanuel Macron appointed to the agriculture portfolio this Wednesday.
Mézard belongs to a small left-of-centre party and is a career politician from the Massif Central area, the mountainous core of France’s suckler farming industry. His region is also home to many dairy and sheep farmers.
The senator’s record shows a strong focus on local government issues, from decentralisation to the protection of rural post offices and health services. He has been less active on agricultural issues, most recently supporting the French government in delivering financial aid to farmers during the recent milk price and tillage crisis. He has also spoken repeatedly on the weak position of farmers in value chains.
One interesting point in the competition for developing Mediterranean live export markets is Mézard’s role as president of the parliamentary France-Turkey Friendship Group.
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