Mariann Fischer Boel - enjoyed the common touch

I remember watching her first "confirmation hearing" in front of the European parliament's agriculture committee and almost cringing at her bland performance and stuttering responses.

She did better at the second attempt, taking her place in the new EU commission in late 2004.

I can legitimately claim to have been the first agricultural journalist to have interviewed her following her appointment, as she visited the Smithfield Show in Earls Court and came onto the Farmers Weekly stand. She had good answers for all our questions, though they did seem formulaic - political answers that were hard to argue with, but avoided any kind of commitment.

Again, I was not convinced that she would have the balls for the job, so to speak, but was impressed with her clarity, her humour and her affability.

It was immediately obvious she had excellent people skills, too, as she toured the showground and came face-to-face with grassroots farmers as well as the "great and the good" of our industry. (I thought that little squeeze of the arm was a one-off for me, but it seemed she did that to everyone!)

But what of her actual achievements? Three things spring to mind.

The first was the 2005 sugar reform. This was the first big test of her leadership and the fact she came away with a significant reform, including deep price cuts and an acceptable compensation package, confirmed her ability to stand her ground.

Then there was the CAP "health check" - possibly the centrepiece of her tenure. Despite the howls of protest that greeted her initial proposals, again she got almost all of what she wanted.

She never tired of telling people that it was a "review, not a reform", but it did move the reform process on significantly, with set-aside eliminated, decoupling extended, modulation increased and agreement reached to remove milk quotas over the next five years.

Thirdly, there is the ongoing dairy crisis. Again, Mrs Fischer Boel has set out her stall and stuck to it, insisting quotas will go, and refusing to jack up intervention prices. The fact that only six ministers out of 27 signed up to a Franco-German call for a rethink on milk quotas last week shows clearly just how influential she has become.

Of course there were weaknesses too. She initially did a U turn on animal welfare, in total contrast to her stance when she was Danish agriculture minister, before taking meaningful steps to halt the long distance shipment of live animals.

She has also played second fiddle to her fellow commissioners in the health and trade directorates on occasion, for example, failing to defend farming interests in the debate on the future of pesticides, and making further concessions in the world trade talks than strictly mandated.

But on balance, Mrs Fischer Boel has made her mark in Brussels and will be remembered for a very long time as one who exceeded all expectations.

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