The Romanian leader is accompanied by Foreign Minsiter Lazar Comanescu, Secretary of State with the Chancellery of the Romanian Prime Minister Florin Tacu, Romanian Government's Spokesperson Liviu Iolu, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business Environment of Romania Vlad Vasiliu, and Chargé d'Affaires at the Romanian Embassy Valeriu Arteni, among others.
Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos was born on July 27, 1969 in Zalau. From 1989 to 1994, he attended the Faculty of Horticulture at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca. From 1991 to 1995, he completed thirteen months of internships on organic farms in the French region of Brittany. From 1995 to 1997, he studied for master’s degrees in the economics of agricultural development at the Agrocampus Rennes (National Institute of Agricultural and Agri-food Higher Education and Research) and the University of Montpellier 1.
After that, he interned as an agro-economist at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development in Brussels, helping prepare the Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD).
From 1999 to 2001, he worked at two agricultural development agencies in France, co-ordinating joint programmes with Romania in the field. From 2002 to 2003, as part of the European Commission's delegation to Romania, he helped manage SAPARD's implementation in his native country. From January 2005 to May 2007, he was an adviser to Romania's Agriculture Minister, and a representative in the Council of the European Union's Special Committee on Agriculture. From May to October 2007, he was undersecretary of state for the European affairs at the ministry.
He served as the Agriculture Minister from October 2007 to December 2008 and worked as the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development from February 2010 to November 2014. In July 2015, he was named special adviser of the President of the European Commission. He was appointed as the Romanian Prime Minister in November 2015.
