In Brussels, Cogeca, the European agricultural cooperatives organization, conducted an election resulting in the appointment of Lennart Nilsson from the Swedish organization LRF as the new leader. He will now represent over 22,000 farming cooperatives throughout the EU, succeeding the outgoing Spanish President, Ramon Armengol (Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias), who served for four years. Lennart Nilsson officially assumes the presidency in January.

In Brussels, representatives from all European organizations dedicated to the farming cooperative movement convened to choose a new president for the term 2024-2026. Cogeca members, prioritizing experience, selected Lennart Nilsson, a seasoned Swedish farmer and member of the LRF board. Nilsson has demonstrated active engagement in his cooperative, Lantmännen, at the national level, and has been actively involved in various working parties within Copa and Cogeca for several years.

After his election, Lennart Nilsson declared, "I'm well aware of the responsibility I'll have to shoulder in the months ahead. The obstacles we've had to face in recent years have been numerous, from the consequences of the COVID crisis, to the war in Ukraine, to galloping inflation. I would like to thank Ramon Armengol for the way he has led our organization through these difficult times. I intend to continue his work, particularly involving young farmers in the cooperative movement all across the EU."

In a video message recorded after his election and broadcast on Copa-Cogeca's platforms, Lennart Nilsson added, "We have a lot of challenges for the future. We hope that we farmers and cooperatives can be part of the discussion at EU level concerning the solutions. We have several possibilities to provide the EU with good, safe food, but also energy and biomass. Cooperatives will play a key role in the green transitions."