Setting The Course

ENIA's secretary-general skillfully combines science and advocacy By Thom Loree

Nickel Magazine, March 2007 -- Two-thousand and six was a pivotal year for the European nickel industry. The European Union's new chemicals regulation policy, REACH, moved closer toward implementation and more stringent water quality standards were established. And 2007 promises to be even more important for the industry. In the months ahead these programs and others will start to have a direct effect on nickel producers and downstream users. If all that sounds like too much for one man to take on his shoulders, think again.

As secretary-general of the Brussels-based European Nickel Industry Association (ENIA), Hugo Waeterschoot is charged with overseeing these programs on behalf of the world's nickel producers. It's a job that involves building bridges between industry representatives, the scientific community and policy-makers. Given his background and experience in these very fields, perhaps no one is better qualified to build those bridges.

Born in 1961 in Antwerp, north of Brussels, Waeterschoot received master of arts degrees in biology (from the University of Hasselt and Ghent), environmental sanitation (also Ghent) and middle management (from the Vlerick Leaven Ghent Management School) and got his professional start as environmental manager at the Hoboken smelter in Antwerp. His 17 years of industrial experience included various jobs in the environment and health fields, among them, product safety manager and co-ordinator of the Belgian environment and health activities of the Union Miniere Group, and science and environmental policy manager of the Umicore Group.

At Umicore, he got deeply involved in EU metal risk assessment work covering such metals as cobalt, lead, zinc and copper, and persuaded the group to join the Nickel Producers Environmental Research Association (NiPERA). Prior to his appointment to ENIA in 2005, Hugo was the director of environment, health and safety (EHS) for Eurometaux (under a 3-year secondment from Umicore), where he helped develop the organization's EHS policy and was the principal negotiator for the metals industry on REACH with the policy institutions of the EU.

In 2003, Hugo became vice chair of the organization representing the interests of the industry at the OECD level.

"My experience at Eurometaux brought me into contact with the European Commission services, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, as well as with national metal organizations," says Waeterschoot, "and these contacts are part of an extensive network I continue to draw upon at ENIA."

His background in science combined with a keen interest in policy and management have made it possible for Waeterschoot to influence international metals regulation.

"The fact is ENIA is at the helm, and that means we are setting the course. We have been anticipating the application of REACH more than anyone else and have carried out good risk assessment and risk management. The other commodity organizations know that the policies we negotiate will be applied to them too, so they co-operate by helping us. As a result, we have tremendous leverage for gaining support. Our collaboration in Europe with stakeholders in copper, zinc and the various other metals coordinated by Eurometeaux is ongoing and extremely close.

"Working together is one of the key components of successful business advocacy," he stresses. "ENIA is continually building long-term relationships with our stakeholders so that we can anticipate their problems or concerns. Once we anticipate them, we can find solutions and set them in place."

Internationalization of the regulations affecting the nickel industry is widening the scope of such relationships. "Regulations are not made in Europe alone anymore, or if they are, they are immediately internationalized," says Waeterschoot. "For example, the results of the nickel risk assessment, when they're made available (in June 2007), will be posted immediately on the web site of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Consider also that Europe has traditionally specialized in aspects of chemicals management whereas the U.S., in comparison, has specialized in other areas, such as agriculture, although these specializations are not regionally exclusive. What all this means is that we now have to work on the worldwide level, because the boundaries are gone."

Waeterschoot, though he resides in Brussels with his wife and three teenage sons, is frequently on the move. As secretary-general, he is also responsible for ENIA's Nickel Use Support Group, which is based in Alvechurch, Birmingham, U.K., and he serves on the Management Committee of the Nickel Institute in Toronto.

The staff in Brussels and Alvechurch is increasingly involved in large, multi-year projects such as REACH, which requires them all to work closely together (this collaboration also includes Waeterschoot's colleagues in the Toronto offices of the Nickel Institute and in the Raleigh, North Carolina, offices of NiPERA).

"I'm essentially the coach of the European team, and the motivator who provides enthusiasm and direction. I love providing organization and momentum for large multi-office projects, and hope I can continue to contribute to the Nickel Institute."

Thom Loree is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

PHOTO: Jamie Veeneman for Nickel Institute

European Nickel Industry Association ENIA Sixth Floor Avenue des Arts 13 Brussels 1210 Belgium Tel: 32 2 290 3200 Fax: 32 2 290 3220 Email: euronickel@euronickel.org Website: www.enia.org

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