Bjorn Hansen has been selected by the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) as ECHA’s next Executive Director. He will succeed Geert Dancet effective on 1st January 2018. Dancet was appointed as ECHA’s first Executive Director in January 2008. The term of office of the Executive Director is five years. It may be prolonged by the Management Board once for a further five years.
Bjorn Hansen is a well-known expert in developing EU chemical legislation. Geert Dancet has done an excellent job in building a strong organization and enhancing the implementation of the EU chemical legislation over the past ten years.
Björn Hansen, born in Denmark, obtained his Master’s degree from the State University, New York, USA, in 1985, and his Ph.D. in Probability Theory from the Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1988. He worked as an area coordinator for the existing substances team at the European Chemicals Bureau at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy. In 2003, he joined the Chemicals Unit of directorate-general (DG) Environment in Brussels, Belgium, 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.
- European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), Helsinki, Finland
Also of Interest
- 10 Years of Making Chemicals Safer,
V. Koester,
ChemViews Mag. 2017.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chemv.201700041
Learning from the past, designing the future: The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) celebrates its anniversary - REACH – An Overview,
ChemViews Mag. 2012.
DOI: 10.1002/chemv.201200029
A short and simple description. - Challenges of REACH – Interview with Geert Dancet,
Vera Koester, Geert Dancet,
ChemViews Mag. 2013.
DOI: 10.1002/chemv.201300054
G. Dancet, Executive Director, ECHA, talks about the past, present, and future challenges of the agency
