COPA-COGECA

COPA-COGECA (Comité des organisations professionnelles agricoles-Comité général de la coopération agricole de l'Union européenne / Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations-General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives), is the union of the two big agricultural umbrella organisations COPA and COGECA and the strongest interest group for European farmers. 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), and the Deputy Secretary General is Patrick Pagani (since 2024).

COPA-COGECA is 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.

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.

The COPA-COGECA opposed the European Union–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement. The COPA-COGECA said the impact of the free trade deal would be "devastating on the European farming family model".