Daniele Ferrari, CEO of Versalis (Eni) and President of PlasticsEurope was elected President of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), effective immediately, at Cefic’s annual General Assembly. He succeeds Hariolf Kottmann, Chairman of the Board of Clariant, who has held this post since October 2016.

Marco Mensink, Cefic’s Director General, said “I am pleased to welcome Daniele as our new President. With the challenges of Brexit, upcoming EU elections and transition to a more low-carbon economy, the industry needs a strong and capable leader like Daniele. At the same time we thank Hariolf Kottmann for his outstanding leadership over the past two years. Under his presidency we restructured Cefic, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and secured China’s membership in the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA)”.

Daniele Ferrari, Cefic’s new President, said “The EU chemical industry is already playing a key role in addressing the world’s biggest challenges by developing technologies to mitigate climate change, use resources more efficiently and facilitate recycling. My ambition is to promote a European environment in which the chemical industry can grow and support the transition to a sustainable society, towards the circular economic model. At the same time, we will continue to help the European chemical industry to attract investments and thrive at a global level.  Chemistry will help us move forward towards a stronger European economy.”

Daniele Ferrari is Chief Executive Officer of Versalis and Chairman of Matrìca, a joint venture focusing on renewable chemistry, positions he has held since 2011. A thirty-year career in the chemical industry has seen Daniele take on managerial assignments in Italy, the UK, Belgium and the US, working for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and Huntsman Corporation.

Since June 2017 Daniele has also been President of PlasticsEurope, a pan-European association representing plastics manufacturers. He will combine the role of President of Cefic and PlasticsEurope for a month before handing over to his successor in PlasticsEurope (yet to be appointed).  He is also Vice-President for Europe of the Italian Chemical Association (Federchimica) and serves as a non-executive director of Venator Materials and Huntsman Corporation.