The move has been prompted by the current chief executive Massimo Costa's decision to relinquish his European duties to return to his native Italy and focus on Y&R's operation there.
Costa, who has held the EMEA position in tandem with heading Y&R Italy since 2005, is keen to take a break from travelling.
Hamish McLennan, the global chief executive of Y&R, will oversee the EMEA role on an interim basis while hunting for Costa's successor.
Costa's future has been the subject of much speculation for a number of years, with sources suggesting that he came close to resigning from the network in July 2008.
The 50-year-old has spent 16 years at Y&R during two stints. Costa, who first joined the network as a group account director at Y&R Italy in 1990, then joined Lowe Lintas in 1998 but returned to Y&R four years later.
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