Salla Saastamoinen

Salla Saastamoinen is Deputy Director-General in Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (JRC) at the European Commission. The Joint Research Centre is Commission’s science and knowledge service that provides independent, evidence-based knowledge and science, supporting EU policies to positively impact society. In the JRC, Salla Saastamoinen is in charge of the five scientific directorates working in the areas of Fair and sustainable economy; Energy, mobility and climate; Sustainable resources; Space, security and migration; and Health and food.

Salla Saastamoinen has worked in the European Commission since 1996, first in DG Environment and then in several areas in DG Justice and Consumers. In DG Justice, Salla Saastamoinen was lastly the acting Director-General covering policy areas of civil and criminal justice, fundamental rights and rule of law, equality and Union citizenship, and consumers. At the same time, Salla Saastamoinen was Director for civil and commercial justice, and before that, Director in charge of equality and non-discrimination.

Before joining the Commission, Salla Saastamoinen was a partner in a law office in Helsinki, Finland. She has a licentiate degree in law (post-graduate level) from the University of Helsinki, Finland, and post-graduate studies in law from the universities of Saarbrücken, Germany and Zürich, Switzerland. She is author of several books on environmental law and EU law.