Wolfgang Burtscher benoemd tot Directeur -Generaal Onderzoek (en)

Wolfgang Burtscher appointed Deputy Director-General of DG Research

The European Commission today appointed Mr Wolfgang Burtscher as Deputy Director-General for Research (DG RTD). In his new position Mr Burtscher will assist the Director-General of DG Research in running a Directorate-General employing 2000 staff and is tasked with managing the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, which has a budget of more than €53bn over seven years.

More specifically , Mr Burtscher will be responsible for managing human and financial resources and, as internal control coordinator, for the internal control framework. He will also be in charge of external audit policy and of the strategic planning of the Directorate-General's activities.

An Austrian national, Mr Burtscher is 49 years old and is currently Director of Audit of Agricultural Expenditure in DG Agriculture. He was Director of Agricultural Legislation in the same DG from 2000 to 2005.

Before joining the Commission in 2000 Mr Burtscher was representative of the Länder at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the EU. From 1992 to 1996 he was Director of European Affairs in the Vorarlberg administration. Previously, from 1990 to 1992, he was a legal advisor at the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Geneva, at the time of negotiations on the European Economic Area (EEA). He focussed particularly on the free circulation of goods and capital and on competition issues.

Wolfgang Burtscher holds a doctorate in law and also has a qualification from the Institut Européen des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Nice.