COPA-COGECA

COPA-COGECA (In French: Comité des organisations professionnelles agricoles-Comité général de la coopération agricole de l'Union européenne, In English: Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations-General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives), is the union of the two big European agricultural umbrella organisations COPA and COGECA and the strongest interest group for European farmers.

COPA-COGECA

Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the Europe Union
Abbreviation	COPA-COGECA
Formation	1962; 63 years ago (1962)
Founders	COPA and COGECA
Type	Lobby group
Legal status	Umbrella organization
Purpose	Advocating for agricultural framers, trade unions and professional organizations
Location	Brussels, Belgium
Region served	European Union
Services	Lobby on the on the Common Agricultural Policy for farmers and agricultural owners
Official language	French and English
Secretary General	Elli Tsiforou
Staff	50 (2025)
Website	www.copa-cogeca.eu

Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Brussels, its activity focus is on the Common Agricultural Policy and other policy areas relevant to farmers and agri-cooperatives, such as: food safety, animal health and welfare, plant health, environment, research and innovation, trade etc..

The current President of COPA is FNSEA President Christiane Lambert from France (since 2020), the current president of COGECA is Lennart Nilsson from Sweden (since 2023).^[1][2][3] The secretary general of COPA-COGECA is Elli Tsiforou.^[4]

COPA-COGECA was a founding member of the EU lobby group European Livestock Voice. In 2023, an investigation by Lighthouse Reports in partnership with The Guardian and EU Scream revealed that the livestock industry lobbied the European Commission into delaying legislative proposals to protect animal welfare in the European Union.^[5]

History

On 6 September 1958, the first European representative organisation, COPA, was created. On 24 September 1959, the agricultural cooperatives of the European Community created the European umbrella organisation, COGECA. COPA's Secretariat was established in Brussels on 1 April 1959, merging with that of COGECA on 1 December 1962.^[6]

In 2019, COPA-COGECA opposed the European Union–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement with South America.^[7] The COPA-COGECA said the impact of the free trade deal would be "devastating on the European farming family model".^[8]