He holds the position of Professor at the University of Bologna and has received numerous national and international awards throughout his academic career. With over 150 scientific publications, his work primarily focuses on food security and the role of international trade in modern society. Paolo De Castro has served as Minister of Agriculture in Italy on three occasions and held the position of Vice-President of the Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food Production in the Senate of the Italian Republic. He also served as a special adviser to the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, from 2000 to 2002. Since July 2009, Paolo De Castro has been a Member of the European Parliament. He chaired the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development from 2009 to 2014 and played a key role in the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy for the 2014/2020 period. During his second term as a Member of the European Parliament, he held positions such as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Coordinator of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats for the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. He is currently a member of the Committees on Agriculture and Rural Development and on International Trade.