Speaker profile
Cristina de Avila
Cristina de Avila is Head of the Sustainable Chemicals Unit of the European Commission’s Environment Directorate-General, where she has been in charge of drafting the Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, currently focusing on its implementation. She was Deputy Head of the same unit, where she led the unit's work on REACH and CLP. She has been working on EU chemicals policy since 2004, being involved in the co-decision negotiations and the implementation of the REACH Regulation since its adoption.
Before joining the Commission, Cristina worked for over five years as policy analyst and lobbyist, both in an NGO in Spain and in two public affairs consultancies in Brussels. Her main area of expertise was EU environment policy, in particular the sectors on waste and product policy. Prior to her specialisation in EU law and environment policy, Cristina worked as a lawyer for over two years.
Cristina studied law in the University Complutense of Madrid, has a post-graduate diploma on International Relations from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and an LL.M in European Business Law from the University of Amsterdam.