Alois Rainer takes office as Federal Minister of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity
Alois Rainer was appointed the new Federal Minister of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin today. After being sworn in at the German Bundestag, the minister drove to the Berlin office in Wilhelmstrasse with his predecessor Cem Özdemir where he introduced himself to his new staff.
On taking office, Federal Minister Rainer stated: "Our agricultural sector is the backbone of our rural regions - it deserves respect, dependability and fair conditions. It is a great honour and responsibility to take on the office of Federal Minister of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity. For me, this is not a job, it is a calling. My goal is to create the best conditions for the German agricultural sector, in harmony with the environment and with animal welfare. We need to further reduce the burden on our family farmers and provide them with greater planning certainty. Reducing red tape is not a slogan - it is a political duty! Rural regions are not just our roots - they are also our future. My aim is to strengthen rural regions as places to live, to promote the rural economy and to make sure our rural regions remain vibrant communities.
I would like to thank my predecessor Cem Özdemir and his team for the work they have done for our country and for the good handover. The fact that governments change hands peacefully in our liberal democracy is of great value.
I am now looking forward very much to my new duties and to working together with the highly skilled staff in Bonn and Berlin. Today, I have already got to know many colleagues and I have felt their passion and enthusiasm for the whole breadth of agricultural and food issues. That is what we need in order to help our rural regions prosper."
After taking office, Federal Minister Rainer swore in the new Parliamentary State Secretaries Silvia Breher and Martina Englhardt-Kopfand presented them with their certificates of appointment.
Biographic details of the new ministry leadership:
- Alois Rainer comes from Straubing in Lower Bavaria. He was mayor of his home municipality of Haibach from 1996 until 2014. He has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2013, was inter aliaa member of the Committee on Food and Agriculture and the Budgetary Committee and was most recently chair of the Finance Committee. He was directly elected for the constituency of Straubing at the last federal election. He is a trained butcher, is married, Catholic, and has two sons.
- Silvia Breher comes from the Oldenburg Münsterland region in Lower Saxony. She is a directly elected Member of the German Bundestag and has represented the constituency of Cloppenburg-Vechta since 2017. She was a member of the Committee on Food and Agriculture and the Committee on Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. She is a lawyer and has three children.
- Martina Englhardt-Kopf comes from Schwandorf in Bavaria. She is a directly elected Member of the German Bundestag, and has represented the district of Cloppenburg-Vechta since 2021. She was a member of the Committee on Transport and a substitute member of the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. She is married, Catholic and has two children. She and her family work part-time as farmers, working a farm she took over from her parents.