
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the
agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment.
Definition
The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the
agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment.
Its goal is to help those involved in developing, implementing and evaluating
environmental policy
Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem mana ...
, and to inform the general public.
Organization
The EEA was established by the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
(EEC) Regulation 1210/1990 (amended by EEC Regulation 933/1999 and EC Regulation 401/2009) and became operational in 1994, headquartered in
Copenhagen,
Denmark.
The agency is governed by a management board composed of representatives of the governments of its 32 member states, a
European Commission representative and two scientists appointed by the
European Parliament, assisted by its Scientific Committee.
The current Executive Director of the agency is Professor
Hans Bruyninckx, who has been appointed for a five-year term. He is the successor of Professor
Jacqueline McGlade.
Member countries
The
member states
A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation.
Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...
of the European Union are members; however other states may become members of it by means of agreements concluded between them and the EU.
It was the first EU body to open its membership to the 13 candidate countries (pre-
2004 enlargement).
The EEA has 32 member countries and six cooperating countries. The members are the 27
European Union member states together with
Iceland,
Liechtenstein,
Norway,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
Turkey.
Since
Brexit in 2020, the UK is not a member of the EU anymore and therefore not a member state of the EEA.
The six
Western Balkan countries are cooperating countries:
Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro,
North Macedonia,
Serbia as well as
Kosovo under the
UN Security Council Resolution 1244/99. These cooperation activities are integrated into Eionet and are supported by the EU under the "Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance".
The EEA is an active member of the
EPA Network.
Reports, data and knowledge
The European Environment Agency(EEA) produces assessments based on quality-assured data on a wide range of issues from biodiversity, air quality, transport to climate change. These assessments are closely linked to the European Union's environment policies and legislation and help monitor progress in some areas and indicate areas where additional efforts are needed.
As required in its founding regulation, the EEA publishes its flagship report th
State and Outlook of Europe's environment(SOER), which is an integrated assessment, analysing trends, progress to targets as well as outlook for the mid- to long-term.
The EEA shares this information, including the datasets used in its assessments, through it
main websiteand a number of thematic information platforms such a
Biodiversity Information System for Europe(BISE) an
ClimateADAPT The Climate-ADAPT knowledge platform presents information and data on expected climatic changes, the vulnerability of regions and sectors, adaptation case studies, and adaptation options, adaptation planning tools, and EU policy.
European Nature Information System
The European Nature Information System (EUNIS) provides access to the publicly available data in the EUNIS database for
species,
habitat types and protected sites across Europe. It is part of the European Biodiversity data centre (BDC), and is maintained by the EEA.
The database contains data
* on species, habitat types and designated sites from the framework of
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...
,
* from material compiled by the European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity
* mentioned in relevant international conventions and in the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Red Lists,
* collected in the framework of the EEA's reporting activities.
European environment information and observation network
The European environment information and observation network (Eionet) is a partnership network of the EEA and the countries. The EEA is responsible for developing the network and coordinating its activities. To do so, the EEA works closely together with national focal points (NFPs), typically national environment agencies or environment ministries which are responsible for coordinating national networks of the National Reference Centres (NRCs) involving many institutions (about 350 in all).
Apart from the NFPs and NRCs, Eionet currently includes covers seve
European Topic Centres(ETCs):
* ETC on Air Pollution, Transport, Noise and Industrial Pollution (ETC/ATNI)
* ETC on Biological Diversity (ETC/BD)
* ETC on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation (ETC/CCA)
* ETC on Climate Change Mitigation and Energy (ETC/CME)
* ETC on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters (ETC/ICM)
* ETC on Urban, Land and Soil Systems (ETC/ULS)
* ETC on Waste and Materials in Green Economy (ETC/WMGE)
The European Environment Agency (EEA) implements the "Shared Environmental Information System" principles and best practices via projects such as the "ENI SEIS II EAST PROJECT" & the "ENI SEIS II SOUTH PROJECT" to support environmental protection within the six eastern partnership countries (ENP) & to contribute to the reduction in
marine pollution
Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial waste, industrial, agricultural pollution, agricultural and municipal solid waste, residential waste, particle (ecology), particles, noise, excess carbon dioxid ...
in the Mediterranean through the shared availability & access to relevant environmental information.
Budget management and discharge
As for every EU body and institution, the EEA's budget is subject to a discharge process, consisting of external examination of its budget execution and financial management, to ensure sound financial management of its budget. Since its establishment, the EEA has been granted discharge for its budget without exception. The EEA provides full access to its administrative and budgetary documents in it
public documents register
The discharge process for the 2010 budget required additional clarifications. In February 2012, the
European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control published a draft report, identifying areas of concern in the use of funds and its influence for the 2010 budget such as a 26% budget increase from 2009 to 2010 to €50 600 000.
[Draft Report on discharge on the implementation of the budget of the European Environment Agency for the financial year 2010]
14 pages, 6 February 2012, and questioned that maximum competition and value-for-money principles were honored in hiring, also possible fictitious employees.
[
The EEA's Executive Director refuted allegations of irregularities in a public hearing. On 27 March 2012 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted on the report and commended the cooperation between the Agency and NGOs working in the environmental area. On 23 October 2012, the European Parliament voted and granted the discharge to the European Environment Agency for its 2010 budget.
]
Executive directors
International cooperation
In addition to its 32 members and six Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
cooperating countries, the EEA also cooperates and fosters partnerships with its neighbours and other countries and regions, mostly in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy:
* EaP states: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
* UfM UFM may refer to:
*UFM100.3, a Mandarin radio station in Singapore
*Ultrasonic force microscopy
*''Unidad Falangista Montañesa'', a Spanish political party
*Union des Femmes Monégasques, a women's organization in Monaco
*Union for the Mediterrane ...
states: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Authority
The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine, , Syria, Tunisia
* other ENPI Enpi may refer to:
* Enpi (elbow strike), a Japanese martial arts term meaning "elbow strike"
*Enpi (kata)
, also frequently transliterated as ''Empi'', is a '' kata'' practiced by Shotokan and other karate styles. Enpi means ''Flying Swallow'' ...
states: Russia
* Central Asia states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Additionally the EEA cooperates with multiple international organizations and the corresponding agencies of the following countries:
* United States of America (Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
)
* Canada (Environment Canada
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...
)
Official languages
The 26 official languages used by the EEA are: Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, Danish, German, Greek, English, Spanish, Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also ...
, Finnish, French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Lithuanian
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Lithuanians
* Lithuanian language
* The country of Lithuania
* Grand Duchy of Lithuania
* Culture of Lithuania
* Lithuanian cuisine
* Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
, Latvian, Malti
Maltese ( mt, Malti, links=no, also ''L-Ilsien Malti'' or ''Il-Lingwa Maltija''), is a Semitic languages, Semitic language derived from Siculo-Arabic, late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance languages, Romance Stratum (linguistics), superstra ...
, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
.
See also
* Agencies of the European Union
*Citizen Science
Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...
, cleanup projects that people can take part in.
* EU environmental policy
* List of atmospheric dispersion models
* List of environmental organizations
* Confederation of European Environmental Engineering Societies
* Coordination of Information on the Environment
* European Agency for Safety and Health at WorkEU-OSHA
*
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
References
External links
European Environment Agency websiteEuropean Topic Centre on Land Use and Spatial Information (ETC LUSI)European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change(ETC/ACC)European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity(ETC/BD)Model Documentation System (MDS)The European Environment Agency's near real-time ozone map (ozoneweb)The European Climate Adaptation Platform Climate-ADAPTEUNIS homepage
{{Authority control
1990 in the European Economic Community
Agencies of the European Union
Atmospheric dispersion modeling
Environmental agencies in the European Union
Government agencies established in 1990
Organizations based in Copenhagen
1994 establishments in Denmark