Professional Life and Other Activities
Joseph Daul comes from a large family (six brothers and sisters) and at the age of 20 he took over a small family farm of 7 ha which he has since managed with his wife and, for the last few years, his son. While the operation has grown to 75 ha, it is still family run and specialises in beef production and the cultivation of sugar beet.
Already very early on in his professional life, he quickly became aware of the importance of becoming involved in public life and voluntary work. Joseph Daul became active in the agricultural trade union movement, through the Centre National des Jeunes Agriculteurs (CNJA - National Centre for Young Farmers), a highly-developed network at local, regional, national and European level.
This experience allowed him to complete his professional training and general education to then very quickly assume responsibilities at national and European level. Thus, in 1976 he was appointed national Vice-Chairman of the CNJA with responsibility for European affairs.
He also became a member of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations (COPA) and of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.
At the age of 35 he continued his trade union activities beyond the youth sector and combined his professional life as a farmer with positions of responsibility at a regional, (professional organisations, cooperatives, Chamber of Agriculture), national and European level.
In 1997, when the 'mad cow' crisis arose, he was chair of the National Federation of Beef Producers in France and of the 'beef' group in Europe.
The management of the crisis required diplomacy, perspicacity and faith in the future of the sector in order to juggle with the scientific realities, media impact, the despair of producers and the psychosis among consumers. He contributed greatly to finding solutions together with the national and European authorities to overcome the crisis.
These activities, together with his experience as mayor of his town (1000 inhabitants) served to prepare Joseph Daul to take a more active role in politics when, in 1999, he was asked to represent the farming and rural communities on the RPR list under Nicolas Sarkozy.
He therefore gave up his other functions in order to concentrate solely on his responsibilities as Member of the European Parliament. However, in order to remain in touch with his constituency, Joseph Daul became deputy Mayor in his home town, Vice-President of the Community of Councils and Chairman of the Strasbourg Abattoir Management Cooperative (160 employees).
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