Copa and Cogeca paid tribute today to André Herlitzka, the founder and creator of our European farm and cooperative organisations Copa & Cogeca, who has passed away, and thanked him for giving us a strong and united voice in the EU.
Copa & Cogeca Secretary-General Pekka Pesonen said “Mr Herlitzka, Honorary Secretary General of Copa-Cogeca, was a great inspiration to us all. In 1959, he gave farmers a voice in the EU by creating Copa. This was followed closely by Cogeca and the development of a joint Copa & Cogeca Secretariat in 1962 to form the biggest and most powerful agricultural lobby in the EU”.
“With farmers facing major challenges and food supplies scarce, Mr Herlitzka from Belgium played an instrumental role in developing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that we have today which is great value for money, giving farmers a fairer and more stable standard of living and ensuring 500 million EU consumers have quality food supplies on their plates”, Pesonen added.
“Not only was he an inspiration for European agriculture policy work, being Copa-Cogeca Secretary General for over 35 years from 1959 to 1994, but he improved the true spirit of cooperation amongst farmers, cooperatives and policy makers. He kept Copa & Cogeca united and his devotion to agriculture and the farming community inspired us all to work together. He will long remain in our memories and thoughts and we can only hope that this will help to minimise the pain from his absence. Together with our members, we offer our sincere condolences and profound sympathies to Ms Collier, his devoted wife, as well as to his family and friends”, Pesonen concluded.
