Mariann Fischer Boel
Mariann Fischer Boel was born on the Danish island of Funen, where she completed her Higher Commercial Examination at the Tietgen Business School in Odense.
Prior to entering into politics on a full-time basis, she worked mainly in finance. After starting in local politics in 1982, Ms Boel became Deputy Mayor in the Municipality of Munkebo, MP for Venstre (the Liberal Party of Denmark) since 1990, Chair of the Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Committee, the Trade and Industry Committee and the Fiscal Affairs Committee, and Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.
During the period 2003–2010, Ms Boel was the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. Agriculture has always been close to her heart, and she spent her years in Brussels modernising and market orienting European agriculture to make it more competitive on a global scale (although not always to the unanimous satisfaction of all the countries concerned).
In 2008, the Danish Europe Movement (Europabevægelsen) elected Ms Boel European of the Year.