Joseph Daul

Who is Joseph Daul?

Joseph Daul is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the East of France. He is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, a member-party of the European People's Party. On 9 January 2007 he was elected Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, replacing Hans-Gert Pöttering, who was elected as the new President of the European Parliament. On 12 November 2013, Daul was elected President of the European People's Party, succeeding the late Wilfried Martens.

Daul had previously come to prominence as the Chairman of the European Parliament's powerful Committee on Agriculture, a position he was elected to on 23 July 2004, and previously, from 2002, as chairman of the Conference of Committee Chairmen. He has been Mayor of Pfettisheim since 1989, and is an Officer of the Agricultural Order of Merit, Knight of the National Order of Merit and Knight of the Légion d'honneur.

In addition to French he speaks standard German and Alsatian, the German dialect spoken in his native region.