Marie-Christine Ribera
Director General
European Committee on Sugar Manufacturers (CEFS)
Marie-Christine Ribera is a French citizen and lives in Brussels. She is a lawyer by training. She began her professional career in 1987 with an internship at the European Commission (DG Agri) before becoming a policy officer in variety of settings, initially with the French National Federation of Rural Territory Management and later in the regional Chamber of Commerce of Industry of the Ile-de-France region. In 1991, Marie-Christine Ribera joined the French National Centre for Young Farmers as Advisor in charge of European Community matters. During this time, she was also a substitute member of the Economic and Social Committee of the EU. In 1993, she became legal advisor to the Director General of the French inter-professional National Cereals Office.
In 1999, Marie-Christine Ribera joined COPA-COGECA (the Committee of professional agricultural organizations and agricultural cooperatives) in Brussels as Policy Advisor with special responsibility for arable crops and bilateral agreements. Over the past 9 years, Marie-Christine Ribera has been deeply involved in agriculture, environment and food policies of the European Union, developing a robust network of relations on the Brussels/EU scene.
In 2008, Marie-Christine Ribera was promoted to the position of Director of Commodities & Trade, reporting directly to COPA-COGECA’s Secretary General and managing a team of 9 persons. She had direct responsibility over arable crops, technology in agriculture (including GMOs), relationships with international farming organizations and bilateral trade agreements between the EU and third countries.
Present position (since June 2009), CEFS Director-General.