Wolfgang Burtscher has been Director-General of DG Agriculture and Rural Development since April 2020. From 2009 to 2020 he was Deputy Director-General in the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission and in that function he was responsible for wide range of research and innovation policy development and implementation issues including research and innovation in the fields of agriculture, food and health. From 2000 to 2009, Mr Burtscher was Director in the European Commission’s Directorate- General for Agriculture where he was responsible for the provision of legal support to the CAP and quality policy and for the control of agricultural expenditure. Wolfgang Burtscher is an Austrian citizen and before joining the European Commission in 2000, he was a representative of the federal states in the permanent representation of Austria to the EU.