Johannes Fankhauser

Johannes Fankhauser Director-General at the Agriculture and Rural Development Section at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management

Johannes Fankhauser – Having grown up on a mountain farm in the Zillertal (Tyrol), Johannes Fankhauser received a comprehensive agricultural education, from the Rotholz Agricultural Technical School to his studies in agriculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. He is thoroughly familiar with all aspects of farmers’ concerns as well as domestic agricultural policy. His professional experience includes roles at the Austria Bio Garantie certification body, as deputy chief of staff in the Ministry of Agriculture, as a market policy advisor and head of the Department of Rural Development, Education, and Advisory Services, Rural Youth and Women in Agriculture Division at the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture. Since May 2018, he has been Director-General at the Agriculture and Rural Development Section at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management.

Nikolaus Kriz – Executive Director of European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

Nikolaus Kriz took up the appointment of EFSA’s Executive Director in September 2025, after having served for three years as Head of EFSA’s Risk Assessment Services (ENABLE) Department.

A veterinary surgeon by training with over 30 years of professional experience, Nik’s career spans general veterinary practice, veterinary clinics and academia in four continents before moving to risk assessment in One Health at the European Medicines Agency (EMA). He then took on managerial functions in the area of parallel distribution and certificates, as well as supporting the work of the seven EMA scientific committees. In these roles Nik was responsible for the EU regulation on substances essential for the treatment of Equidae and the development of guidance for multi-strain dossiers as well as the early development of the new veterinary medicines regulation. He also implemented the public register for parallel distributed products in the EU, a major step towards improved transparency in the sector.

Nik joined EFSA on 1 January 2017 as Head of Unit for Animal Health and Welfare and Plant Health, where he was responsible for delivering risk assessments for topics as diverse as Xylella fastidiosa, African swine fever, avian influenza and the welfare of farmed rabbits.
The main achievements of his tenure were the scientific support provided to the European Commission in implementing the Animal Health Law, the setting up of an animal disease data model, partnering on data collections to analyse risks from diseases shared between wildlife, livestock and humans, the introduction of commodity risk assessment of high-risk plants, and horizon scanning for plant pests. He also oversaw a reprioritisation of work to enable the unit to support new animal welfare legislation.

Benoit Cassart – Member of the European Parliament

Benoît Cassart was born on October 2, 1968, in Liège. Trained as an economist, he is a farmer and cattle breeder specializing in the Belgian Blue breed. In 2002, he founded Fabroca, a company dedicated to the genetic selection of this cattle breed. He served as national secretary of the Belgian Federation of Livestock and Meat Traders, defending the interests of the livestock sector for nearly 30 years.

A member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) since 2019, he became a Member of the European Parliament in 2024. He sits with the liberal political group Renew Europe. He is a member of three parliamentary committees: Agriculture and Rural Development, International Trade, and Transport and Tourism. He is the founder and co-chair of the intergroup dedicated to sustainable livestock farming in the European Parliament.

Jean Saint-Geours – Lead Agriculture Economist at the World Bank Group

Jean Saint-Geours is a Lead Agriculture Economist at the World Bank Group (WBG) based in Vienna, Austria where he coordinates the implementation of AgriConnect in Europe and Central Asia in support of agri-food system competitiveness, job creation, resilience, inclusion, and food and nutrition security. He joined the WBG in 2013 with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Türkiye. In his previous roles at the WBG, Jean led analytical work and high-level client dialogue across geographies, as well as strategic corporate engagements. He has led World Bank and IFC operations on several continents, focusing on food and nutrition security, water productivity, and climate resilience. Prior to the WBG, Jean worked in multiple roles and industries in the private sector. He holds an MSc in Management from ESCP Europe and an MBA from Columbia University.

Brigitte Misonne – Acting Director, E ‘Markets’, DG AGRI, European Commission

Brigitte Misonne is Acting Director for Markets and Head of Unit for Animal Products in DG AGRI, European Commission. She has the overall responsibility for monitoring agricultural market developments, analysing economic trends, building-up market knowledge and designing EU market support measures in agricultural sectors, as well as keeping EU market policy fit for purpose.

Brigitte Misonne is responsible for the livestock workstream to provide a diagnosis of the sector’s challenges, propose appropriate tools to accompany the sector, seek ways to address its climate/environment footprint, foster investments, technological development and innovation, and enhance the development of sustainable production models. This has led to the Commission‘s EU Strategy on Livestock.

Horacio González Alemán

Horacio González Alemán – Diploma in Public Law University of Seville, Master in European Studies College of Europe, Master in International trade , ICADE Madrid, Several positions in the Spanish Food and Drink Federation, EU Affairs Representative of ANICE – Asociacion Española de Industrias de la Carne

Ulrich Herzog - Austrian Chief Veterinary Officer

Roland Ackermann - UECBV President

Mr. Roland Ackermann is the new president for European livestock and meat. CEO of the Austrian Company ‚Alpenrind‘ and previously UECBV Vice-president he stands for deep experience in the sector, leadership in Europe and pursuing common adaptations for a sustainable future. He affirmed the UECBV future in its commitment to sustainable meat production, meat trade and livestock trade in Europe. He highlighted that “the livestock and meat sector are central and essential for sustainable agri-food systems now and in the future”. UECBV’s vision is that of a fully resilient agri-food system, providing food and nutrition security to all EU population and beyond. At the same time it would continuously increase sustainability in all dimensions - economic, environmental and social - for a long-term prosperous strive of people and planet together