A member of Parliament from Denmark’s Venstre, the second largest party in the coalition, has been appointed the new Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Social Democrats) has announced. Jacob Jensen, 49, has been an MP since 2005, representing Zealand, including Copenhagen, and was the parliamentary spokesman on environment from 2017 until his ministerial appointment, his first ministerial job. Prior to election to Parliament, Mr Jensen worked in various capacities for the A.P. Møller-Maersk container logistics company from 1998-2007; he obtained an MSc degree in business administration and mercantile law from Copenhagen Business School in 1998.
As Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr Jensen oversees the Danish Agricultural Agency, the Fisheries Agency, and the Veterinary and Food Administration. The Ministry previously (2015-2020) included the Environment Agency, which was split off as a separate ministry (as it was prior to 2015). The Fisheries Agency supports and regulates commercial and recreational fishing in Denmark. It promotes Denmark’s green transition, in part using resources from the European Fisheries Fund, working to develop sustainable fisheries and aquaculture and associated maritime activities. Mr Jensen faces a disgruntled commercial fishing sector, who have had to endure ever-tightening fishing quotas in the North and Baltic Seas, and loss of access to British waters in the North Sea following Brexit. Other issues affecting fishermen, including fuel prices and the North Sea II pipeline, are outside his ministry’s purview.