Brussels, 20/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Austrian Bernhard Url has officially been appointed Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the pivotal food safety body in the EU, and will take up his duties on 1 June of this year. His appointment was formally approved by the EFSA board on 16 May after a lengthy recruitment procedure, in which the European Parliament and the President of the European Commission recommended his appointment.
“I undertake to work with the staff, scientific experts, European institutions, member states and stakeholders of EFSA in order to defend the fundamental values of the Authority and also to work to reinforce a spirit of openness in risk assessment and confidence in our work”, he pledged. In so doing, he reiterated the commitments he made before the MEPs of the parliamentary committee on the environment, health and food safety in April of this year.
A qualified veterinary surgeon, Dr Url has been the acting executive director of EFSA since its French head, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, left in September 2013. Before joining EFSA in June 2012 for a post leading the Risk assessment and scientific assistance department, he held the post of director general of the Austrian health and food safety agency (AGES) for 10 years. (AN)