My weekly update - Main contents

It has been quite an active week around the office, as I settle into my new role. I have been moving from Parliament to Commission College meetings, from meetings on the 2015 Commission Work Programme and work has continued on the much-anticipated Plan for Jobs, Growth and Investment. I have had a series of phonecalls with Agriculture Ministers across the EU to keep them appraised of progress on various issues.

It has been quite an active week around the office, as I settle into my new role. I have been moving from Parliament to Commission College meetings, from meetings on the 2015 Commission Work Programme and work has continued on the much-anticipated Plan for Jobs, Growth and Investment. I have had a series of phonecalls with Agriculture Ministers across the EU to keep them appraised of progress on various issues.

Among the highlights of a packed week were the 6th Knowledge and Innovation Summit took place at the European Parliament on Monday and I was invited to give a keynote speech by the Chairman, Lambert Van Nistelrooij MEP. Innovation in agriculture is a key priority in my mandate as Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development so I was more than happy to attend. I believe Innovation is the key to sustainable rural development and part of this is encouraging young innovators to see farming as an attractive, high tech and rewarding career.

On Tuesday, I met with a delegation of journalists from "the country I know best", who were in Brussels on an information visit organised by the European Commission Office in Dublin.

I also had the honour of speaking to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce during their visit. I took the opportunity to update them that Jobs, growth and investment are the top agenda item for this Commission and I stand firmly beside President Juncker on this. I believe that Agriculture has a central role to play in economic growth in Europe. I am very aware of the numbers employed in the agricultural sector and I want to support them in sustaining and growing their businesses.

On Wednesday, Commissioners had our weekly college meeting where we discussed the issue of transparency. Transparency is of utmost importance when it comes to contact with stakeholders and lobbyists.

Also on Wednesday I was pleased to propose a €28m aid package for dairy producers in the Baltics; this will help milk producers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who have been badly hit by the Russian ban. As of yet a final decision hasn't been made with regards to Finland but I did have a very productive call with Finnish Agriculture Minister Petteri Orpo. The Minister offered to send his State Secretary and statistical experts to Brussels next week to meet with my staff. This should allow the European Commission to examine all the relevant data and establish the full picture in terms of the price drop experienced by Finnish farmers. Should the information justify measures, then we should be in a position to make progress on a package targeted to the dairy sector in Finland.

On Thursday evening I had a very cordial and constructive phonecall with my US counterpart Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. We discussed the issue of EU beef exports to the US.

And today I met with US Trade Representative Michael Froman regarding the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. I can say that both sides see the value of an ambitious and broad-based agreement. We agreed to work hard to reap the benefits for both sides of the Atlantic in terms of the jobs and growth agenda. We both reiterated our commitment to a balanced agreement. Afterwards I participated in a seminar with senior members of my staff on future trends in agriculture. It was fascinating to see some of the predictions. I plan to say more about this in the coming weeks.

I look forward to next week and the work it brings!