ECHA – European Chemicals Agency

Member of the Board of Appeal

ECHA – European Chemicals Agency

Helsinki, Finland

Call for expression of interest in the appointment as member and alternate/additional member of the Board of Appeal of the European Chemicals Agency
(C/2026/1397)

Description of the Agency

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is an agency of the European Union responsible for the implementation of EU chemical regulations, including REACH (¹) (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), CLP (²) (Classification, Labelling and Packaging), and the Biocidal Products Regulation (³). Established in 2007, ECHA operates from its headquarters in Helsinki, Finland.

ECHA’s primary mission is to ensure the protection of human health and the environment through chemical safety in the EU. It facilitates industry compliance, provides information on chemicals, improves consistency within the internal market for chemicals, and promotes alternative methods to reduce animal testing. Through its work, ECHA contributes to sustainable development and the free circulation of substances within the EU single market.

For further information please consult the following website: https://www.echa.europa.eu.

The Board of Appeal

Articles 89 to 94 of REACH set out the relevant provisions in relation to appeals. Article 89 provides for the establishment of a Board of Appeal. The Board is responsible for deciding on appeals against certain individual decisions of the Agency, as defined in Article 91 of REACH.

The Board of Appeal is also responsible for deciding on appeals against decisions of the Agency as defined in Article 77 of the Biocidal Products Regulation.

The Board of Appeal consists of a Chairperson and two other members. They shall have alternates to replace them in their absence or if they are otherwise precluded from participating in proceedings. Additional members may be called upon to ensure that the appeals are processed at a satisfactory rate.

The qualifications of the members are defined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1238/2007 of 23 October 2007 laying down rules on qualifications of the members of the Board of Appeal of the European Chemicals Agency (⁴). According to this Commission Regulation, the Board of Appeal shall consist of technically and legally qualified members. The Chairperson shall be legally qualified.

The Chairperson and the other members of the Board of Appeal shall be independent. In making their decisions, they shall not be bound by any instructions. They shall not perform any other duties in ECHA.

To ensure that the Board of Appeal can operate smoothly, the Board of Appeal is assisted in the exercise of its duties by a Registry, which is led by a Registrar.

Working conditions

The Chairperson, the technically qualified member and the legally qualified member appointed to serve at the Board of Appeal will be expected to deal with appeal cases as they arise. They may be replaced by alternates in their absence or if they are otherwise precluded from participating in proceedings. Members of the Board of Appeal may, therefore, be in fulltime employment, if this is compatible with their ability to hear appeals at short notice. The level of activity of the Board of Appeal will depend on the number of appeals made against ECHA’s decisions.

As such, members and alternates/additional members of the Board of Appeal are not required to suspend their current professional activities. However, any such activities must be compatible with the requirement that members and alternates/additional members of the Board of Appeal shall be independent. The members and alternates/additional members will be required to declare any interests which may conflict with their duties to the Board of Appeal and with individual appeal cases.

The members of the Board of Appeal and alternates/additional members will not be staff of the Agency. Therefore, the Staff Regulations of Officials and Conditions of Employment of other servants of the European Union (the ‘Staff Regulations’) do not apply to members and alternate/additional members of the Board of Appeal unless they are already employed as servants of the European Union by another EU institution, agency, body or office.

Depending on the number of appeals and the distribution of tasks within the Board, the members will be expected to be available for 10 to 15 days per appeal for at least 8 appeals per year. Occasional travel to Helsinki (the seat of the Agency) may be required as part of the duties. Alternates will only be called upon to replace the members in specific cases where the members are absent or otherwise precluded from participating in the proceedings.

The remuneration of members and alternate and additional members of the Board of Appeal who are not servants of the European Union is set out in a decision of the Management Board of the Agency (MB Decision 14/2025). The remuneration scheme covers work related to appeal cases for members and alternate/additional members, as well as work related to the organisation and administration of the Board of Appeal that is not related to specific appeal proceedings, in the case of members. The remuneration will depend on the number of appeal cases and the task allocation within the Board of Appeal. Therefore, it is not possible to guarantee a certain level of income from the above remuneration scheme. Candidates are invited to consult the Management Board decision to familiarise themselves with the remuneration scheme.

EU servants in active service within an EU institution, agency, body or office, who are appointed to act on the Board of Appeal, are not allowed to receive the above remuneration in addition to their salary from their EU employer. They may only receive reimbursement of mission costs, as per the Staff Regulations. To this end, it is appropriate that the assignment to serve on the Board of Appeal is agreed with their EU institution, agency, body or office. The arrangements are formalised in a Service Level Agreement between the ECHA Secretariat and the EU institutions, agencies, bodies or offices where the members or alternate/additional members are employed.

Travel and subsistence expenses will be reimbursed under the applicable rules of ECHA (⁵).

The term of office is for a maximum of five (5) years and is renewable once.

The tasks of the Chairperson, the technically qualified member and the legally qualified member

The tasks of the three members of Board of Appeal will include the following:

• examine and decide on appeals in an independent and impartial manner;
• respect of legal principles and rules in the proceedings;
• act as rapporteur for appeals, where designated by the Chairperson;
• carry out preliminary studies of appeals;
• prescribe procedural measure (e.g. requesting parties to provide additional information or putting questions to the parties);
• participate in oral hearings;
• participate in the adoption of final and procedural decisions (e.g. interventions, stay of proceedings) and, where required to do so, draft those decisions in a timely and thorough manner;
• lay down internal rules for the processing of appeals and on the organisation of the Board and its work;
• lay down procedural rules for the efficient processing of appeals and rules necessary for the organisation of the work of the Board of Appeal, as well as practical instructions of a procedural nature to parties.

Additional tasks of the Chairperson

In addition to the tasks above, the tasks of the Chairperson will also include the following:

• preside over all appeals;
• ensure the efficient and timely processing of appeals;
• ensure the quality and consistency of the Board’s decisions;
• manage the organisation and working methods of the Board;
• replace members by their alternates, where necessary;
• assign the examination of an appeal to one of the Board’s members or to himself/herself as rapporteur following objective criteria;
• decide on the admissibility of appeals;
• decide on confidentiality claims;
• chair oral hearings;
• ensure regular communication with alternate members;
• supervise the work of alternates and additional members;
• represent the Board of Appeal.

Candidates must (eligibility criteria)

In order to be considered for the selection phase, candidates must be a national of a Member State of the European Union or a national of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway).

Candidates must also have a thorough knowledge of one of the official languages of the European Union (⁶) and a satisfactory knowledge of at least one other official language of the European Union to the extent necessary for the performance of their duties.

In addition, depending on the position for which they are applying, candidates expressing interest in the appointment must fulfil the following formal criteria by the closing date for applications:

Chairperson or alternate Chairperson of the Board of Appeal:

• have a recognised degree in law, either:
  1. following successful completion of university studies where the normal duration of university education is four years or more giving access to postgraduate studies;
     or
  2. following successful completion of university studies attested by a degree where the normal duration of university education is three years, and an additional year of relevant professional experience (this one year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).
     If the university degree is not in law, then the candidate must possess also a professional qualification entitling the candidate to practise as a lawyer.
• a minimum of 15 years’ professional experience in the legal field (acquired following the award of the university degree or the degree and the experience or equivalent qualification mentioned above), at least five of which have been acquired in EU law or at least five years of which are related to judicial or similar experience in an international and/or a national Court or an appellate body comparable to the Board of Appeal.

Technically qualified member or alternate/additional technically qualified member of the Board of Appeal:

• have a recognised degree, either:
  1. following successful completion of university studies where the normal duration of university education is four years or more giving access to postgraduate studies;
     or
  2. following successful completion of university studies attested by a degree where the normal duration of university education is three years, and an additional year of relevant professional experience (this one year’s rofessional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).
• have a minimum of 12 years’ professional experience in scientific or technical fields relevant to the REACH and/or Biocidal Products Regulations, including hazard assessment, exposure assessment or risk management with regard to human health or environment risks of chemical substances or related fields (acquired following the award of the university degree or the degree and the experience or equivalent qualification mentioned above). The required professional experience shall include at least five years in the regulatory management of chemicals or analogous regulatory systems (⁷).

Legally qualified member or alternate/additional legally qualified member of the Board of Appeal:

• have a recognised degree in law, either:
  1. following successful completion of university studies where the normal duration of university education is four years or more giving access to postgraduate studies;
     or
  2. following successful completion of university studies attested by a degree where the normal duration of university education is three years, and an additional year of relevant professional experience (this one year’s professional experience cannot be included in the postgraduate professional experience required below).
     If the university degree is not in law, then the candidate must possess also a professional qualification entitling the candidate to practise as a lawyer.
• have a minimum of 12 years’ professional experience in the legal field (acquired following the award of the university degree or the degree and the experience or equivalent qualification mentioned above), at least five of which have been acquired in EU law or at least five years of which are related to judicial or similar experience in an international and/or a national Court or an appellate body comparable to the Board of Appeal.

We look for (selection criteria)

The candidates should have:

• the ability to make decisions and work collegially with others;
• strong communication and inter-personal skills, being able to have effective and efficient discussions within a collegial body;
• proven knowledge and experience of the subject matters under the competence of the Board of Appeal;
• a very good command of English (the working language of the Agency), both oral and written communication skills;
• the candidates applying for the position of the Technically Qualified Member and alternate/additional technically qualified members should have a good knowledge and understanding of the technical aspects of REACH and EU legislation on biocides or analogous regulatory systems (⁸).

The following will be considered an asset:

• knowledge and understanding of procedures in the context of regulatory appeal and/or arbitration procedures;
• experience in European Union law, related to chemicals, or in another analogous regulatory field;
• experience of working in a collegial body;
• experience of working in a multicultural environment.

Selection and appointment

Under the terms of REACH, the Management Board will decide on the appointment of the Chairperson, the Technically Qualified Member and the Legally Qualified Member and the alternates/additional members on the basis of a list of qualified candidates proposed by the European Commission. The purpose of this call for expression of interest is to allow the Commission to establish a list of candidates to be proposed to the Management Board. Candidates should note that inclusion on the list of the European Commission does not guarantee appointment.

The European Commission will organise the selection of the members of the Board of Appeal and the alternates/additional members. To this end, it will set up a selection panel which will invite for an interview those candidates fulfilling all eligibility requirements listed above and having the best profile for the specific requirements based on their merits and the criteria set out above.

Following this interview, the selection panel draws up a list of the most suitable candidates. This list will be adopted by the European Commission and communicated to the Management Board of the Agency.

The Management Board will interview the candidates on the European Commission shortlist and appoint the member of the Board of Appeal, as well as the alternate/additional members.

For practical reasons and in order to complete the selection procedure as quickly as possible in the interest of the candidates as well as that of the Agency, the selection procedure will be carried out in English only, which is the working language of the Agency.

The Members of the Board of Appeal and the alternates/additional members will be required to declare any interests which may conflict with his/her duty to the Board of Appeal in compliance with Article 90(5) and (6) of REACH and the relevant implementing frameworks for managing potential conflicts of interests adopted by the Agency.

Submission of applications

Before submitting your application, you should carefully check whether you meet all the eligibility criteria (‘Candidates must’), particularly concerning the required types of diploma and professional experience as well as your linguistic capacity. Failure to possess any of these eligibility requirements means an automatic exclusion from the selection procedure.

You must have a valid email address. This will be used to identify your registration as well as to remain in contact with you during the different stages of the selection process. Therefore, please keep the European Commission informed about any change in your email address.

To complete the application, candidates need to send a CV and a letter of motivation to the following email address: [email protected].

You will receive an electronic mail confirming that your application has been registered.

If you require more information and/or encounter technical problems, please send an email to: [email protected].

Closing date

The closing date for submissions of applications is 17 April 2026, 12:00 noon Brussels time. It is your responsibility to complete your application and send it on time. We strongly advise you not to wait until the last few days before applying.
Late submissions of applications are not accepted.

Important information for candidates

Candidates are reminded that the work of the selection committees is confidential. It is forbidden for applicants to make direct or indirect contact with members of these committees, or for anybody to do so, on their behalf.

For the applications to be valid, interested persons must send a curriculum vitae and a letter of motivation (maximum 8 000 characters) in PDF format.

Candidates must indicate in the letter of motivation which position they are applying for, ie Chairperson, Legally qualified member or Technically qualified member or the position of alternate/additional members. Legally qualified candidates may apply for both the position of Chairperson and the position of Legally Qualified Member of the Board of Appeal. However, candidates may only be appointed to one of these positions.

The curriculum vitae should preferably be drafted using the European CV format. If any of these documents is not in English, then an English translation must be provided. Certified copies of degrees/diplomas, references, proof of experience, etc. should not be sent at this point but must be submitted at a later stage of the procedure if requested.

Independence and declaration of interests

Members of the Board of Appeal act independently in the public interest and must declare any interests that might be considered prejudicial to his/her independence. Candidates must confirm their willingness to do so in their application.

Due to the particular nature of the function, candidates invited to selection interviews will be required to sign a declaration relating to their past, current or future interests that might be considered prejudicial to their independence.

The candidates must also comply with the generic exclusion criteria to safeguard the independence of the Board of Appeal, established by the Management Board of the ECHA in Annex 2 to the Procedure for the Prevention and Management of potential Conflict of Interest for members of ECHA bodies (⁹). Candidates must comply with the generic exclusion criteria (a)-(f).

Equal opportunities

The European Union applies a policy of equal opportunities and non-discrimination. It takes great care to avoid any form of discrimination in its recruitment procedures and actively encourages applications from women.

Protection of personal data

The Commission and ECHA will ensure that candidates’ personal data are processed as required by Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (¹⁰). This applies in particular to the confidentiality and security of such data.

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(¹) Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1, ELI: https://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2006/1907/oj);
(²) Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (OJ L 353, 31.12.2008, p. 1, ELI: https://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2008/1272/oj);
(³) Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products (OJ L 167, 27.6.2012, p. 1, ELI: https://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/528/oj);
(⁴) OJ L 280, 24.10.2007, p. 10, ELI: https://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2007/1238/oj. ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/1397/oj;
(⁵) Management Board Decision 24/2025;
(⁶) The official languages of the European Union are Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish;
(⁷) This means regulatory systems such as those governing plant protection products, food additives, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics, the Water Framework Directive, the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, the Seveso Directive, or regulatory provisions on occupational safety and health in relation to chemicals;
(⁸) This means regulatory systems such as those governing plant protection products, food additives, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics, the Water Framework Directive, the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, the Seveso Directive, or regulatory provisions on occupational safety and health in relation to chemicals.