European Environment Agency: Mission, governance, output

Briefing 02-06-2017

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union; it was established in 1993 and has its seat in Copenhagen. Its main mission is to provide the EU with objective, reliable and comparable information on the basis of which to conduct environment policy, assess environmental impacts and inform the public about the state of the environment. The Agency's main clients are the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council, as well as its 33 member countries. Its main bodies are the Management Board, which sets the main course, the Executive Director, who heads the Agency, and the Scientific Committee, which provides advice. The EEA has a budget of about €50 million and employs about 200 staff. The EEA's work is supported by the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet), which is made up of European topic centres (consortia of organisations with expertise in a given area) and about 1 500 experts from national environmental organisations. The work of the EEA is based on five-yearly multiannual work programmes implemented through annual work programmes. The Agency's flagship publication is the report on the state and outlook of the European environment (SOER), which provides an assessment of the European environment, trends and prospects. Regular evaluations of the Agency and Eionet are programmed to take place every five years. The European Commission is currently carrying out a 'fitness check' evaluation of the two structures, with conclusions expected by the end of 2017. The European Parliament recognises the role of the EEA as a provider of information on the environment. It recently issued a series of recommendations regarding, among other things, transparency, gender balance, indicators and resources.