Management Board selects the European Chemical Agency’s (ECHA) new Executive Director

The Management Board of the European Chemical Agency ECHA  (Helsinki, Finland), has announced that it has selected Bjorn Hansen as the new Executive Director. He is to  follow Geert Dancet, ECHA’s current Executive Director, who was appointed as ECHA’s first Executive Director in January 2008 and will retire effective beginning of 2018, after serving two five year terms (the statuatory maximum).

As part of the appointment procedure, Bjorn Hansen will make a statement before the European Parliament and answer questions of its Members. The contract signature is scheduled for the Management Board meeting of 14. – 15. December 2017, ECHA said.

Hansen, a Danish national, holds a PhD in Probability Theory from the Technical University of Eindhoven (1988). In June 2003 he joined the Chemicals Unit of DG Environment in Brussels, where he worked as a Head of Unit. From 2007 to 2008 he was seconded to ECHA as the Director of Operations and has been involved in the development of REACH from its very early days. Before joining DG Environment, Hansen worked as an area coordinator for the existing substances team at the European Chemicals Bureau at the Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy.

Source: ECHA press release

HGE / DCG – 02.10.2017