UrsulaSchliessner

Ursula Schliessner leads the Environmental, Health & Safety Practice in the Brussels Office, focusing on EU environmental, food, product, and worker safety laws. She is a recognized leader on REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and other EU chemicals regulations (biocides, food contact materials, cosmetics). She regularly handles REACH registrations, compliance checks, and substance evaluation cases, including RMOAs (risk management options analysis), classification and labeling, and enforcement procedures, as well as European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Board of Appeal cases.

Ursula established and manages some of the first-ever REACH registration (styrene, ethylbenzene, unsaturated polyester resins, iron oxides, TCPP, gluconic acid, and sorbitol) and authorization (CTAC, CCST, CTACSub chromates) consortia ranging from two to more than 150 member companies.

In the EU food law area, Ursula has in-depth knowledge of novel foods (authorizations and notifications under the simplified procedure) and biotech. She often advises on borderline products (foods versus pharmaceuticals), product/additive authorizations, labeling, and claims and recalls, including for consumer products, food packaging, and electronics.

Prior to joining Jones Day in 2014, Ursula created the EU cross-sectoral social dialogue agreement on good handling of silica, as ratified by 15 European industry associations and two European employee federations. The European Commission hailed this as a model agreement regarding worker safety.

Ursula is annually recognized in leading independent legal directories. Clients say, "she is innovative, a hard worker and very analytical," adding: "she has a deep understanding of REACH matters and gives practical advice" (Chambers Europe, 2017). In The Legal 500 EMEA (2020), clients commend Ursula for her "detailed knowledge and experience of the regulatory environment of chemicals."