The Government has decided to back the candidacy of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, to lead the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, by its acronym in English) starting in 2027, the date on which the succession of the current director-general, former Chinese minister Qu Dongyu, who already has two consecutive terms, will be addressed.
The announcement was made in Brussels, before the media, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, who has warned that it will be a “long process” and for which there is still “considerable” room, given that the FAO will not make a definitive decision until “summer 2027”.
“It is a Spanish candidacy, but one that has a European vocation and that is also a reflection of Spain's belief in multilateralism and in the United Nations, at a time when food security is absolutely fundamental,” the head of Foreign Affairs stated upon his arrival at a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers.
Spain's move to opt for this position —it already did so in 2011 with former Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos— occurs a few weeks after, also in Brussels, EU Agriculture ministers underlined the importance of strengthening the strategic component of the link between the community bloc and the FAO and, along those lines, raised the need to agree on a European candidate for the shortlist that will compete for the replacement of Qu Dongyu.
At the end of that meeting of the 27 ministers, the Cypriot Minister of Agriculture and rotating presidency of the EU Council, Maria Panayiotou, recalled that the European Union and the Member States “are the main contributors to the FAO and, however, no European has held the position of secretary general in more than 50 years.”