Brussels, 12/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is recruiting its Executive Director. The Agency, which will play a pivotal role in the implementation of the REACH regulation (recording, assessment and authorisation of chemical products) will start operations in Helsinki on 1 June 2007.
The post of Executive Director of the ECHA, announced in Official Journal C 29 of 9 February, will shortly be published in the international press. Selection will follow the normal recruitment procedures for Heads of the EU Regulatory Agencies: the Commission will propose a short list of candidates from which the Management Board of the Agency will select the Executive Director.
The recruitment of the first 200 ECHA staff members will be launched separately. The European Commission, which is charged under the regulation with helping to set up the Agency, is currently looking for highly qualified staff in a wide rage of disciplines, namely, regulatory management of chemicals, IT, accounting, finance and human resource management.
In the early months, the newly recruited staff will be supported by 40 seconded Commission officials, who will establish the necessary procedures and provide the training needed to enable the Agency to become operational as soon as possible.
The Agency's staff will rise steadily from around 100 in 2007 to more than 400 in 2010. (an)