Designated number 2 on the LR list led by François-Xavier Bellamy in the next European elections, Céline Imart intends to “defend the interests of her country” by embracing this new career in politics. A novelty for her, after a rich career in the private sector.
“He’s the arsonist firefighter. He blows on the embers of agricultural anger.” These were the words of number 2 on the Les Républicains list in the European elections on June 9, Céline Imart, this Monday morning at the microphone of BFMTV on the subject of Emmanuel Macron. Little known to the general public, this cereal producer from Tarn is much less known in the agricultural sphere where its word has mattered for many years. “I agreed to take up the challenge to change things on a European scale. I know the constraints that the French face on a daily basis,” she explained in Le Figaro. Now another career is available to her.
Overqualified and cereal maker for 13 years
“A young mother, she is the symbol of this France of work which keeps her country alive” explained LR boss Éric Ciotti in Le Figaro about his new protégé. At 41, Céline Imart is a cereal farmer in Tarn, near Cuq-Toulza. A graduate of Sciences-Po and Essec, she first held a position as administrative and financial director in a transport and logistics subsidiary of the Bolloré group in Chile, as revealed by The Dispatch in 2012. Then, she became a consultant in a consulting firm in Paris, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).
It was only at the dawn of her 30s that she decided to take over her parents’ family farm of 150 hectares in the South-West. A position she has held for 13 years now. “We need people like her to represent us rather than big demagos” explained a representative of the FDSEA of Tarn a few days earlier in Obs. She is also a spokesperson forIntercerealsthe inter-professional association which brings together cereal producers, cooperatives and exporters in France.
Vice-president of the Young Farmers Union
Originally from Toulouse, Céline Imart is nevertheless a media figure in the agricultural world. She notably appeared in thePolitical show on France 2, November 22, 2018. At the time, she defended the European Union’s CAP and criticized the “brutal” ban on glyphosate. Its weight is now undeniable in the agricultural sector. Member of the office of the General Association of Corn Producers (AGPM), vice-president of the Young Farmers, a union having participated in recent demonstrations on the roads of France, Céline Imart is far from being a young shoot in the sector despite her still modest media coverage behind the head of the LR list in the European elections, François-Xavier Bellamy.
A “woman from the field, from rural areas, passionate about agriculture”
The new number 2 of the LR list for the European vote has never hidden the fact of being pro-GMO as indicated in theObs. “For public opinion, we should return to bucolic agriculture as it is imagined in ‘Martine on the farm'” she regretted. Critical of environmental NGOs, Cécile Imart advocates a “calm” debate on ecological and environmental issues, without stigmatizing pesticides and those who use them.
“We must harmonize standards at European level, better trace the origin of products, make a clear choice between an open European agriculture, which fights on world markets with the same weapons as its competitors, and a more regulated agriculture but also more protected” she indicated. This “woman of the field, of rural life, passionate about agriculture” as she describes herself in the columns of Le Figaro is now positioned in second place on the LR list for the next European elections. One more step for this jack of all trades who is clearly not satisfied.