Status

Agency established by the Council of the European Union; independent of the Commission.

Mission

To provide the Community and member states with objective, reliable and comparable information at the European level, enabling them to identify the measures necessary to protect the environment, to assess the data collected and to disseminate information about the state of the environment.

Activities

The Agency currently has 29 member countries and is the first EU body to open its doors to the 13 countries in central and eastern Europe and the Mediterranean basin that have applied for membership of the EU. Current member countires are:

• The 15 European Union Member States
•  Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, which are members of the European Economic Area
• Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic.

Poland and Turkey, which are also seeking EU membership, are expected to complete their EEA membership formalities shortly.

The EEA became operational in 1994. It has a Management Board which is the main decision making body. The Executive Director is Jacqueline McGlade.

Kees Zoeterman, the Netherlands member of the Management Board, has been appointed Chairman. The Management Board member for the UK is John Custance. The Board also appoints a Scientific Committee to provide technical expertise. The UK member is Professor David Briggs of Imperial College.

To accomplish its aim, the EEA collects information through EIONET (the European Environmental Information and Observation Network). EIONET is a network of environmental bodies and institutions active in the EEA member countries. It is made up of national focal points (NFPs), national reference centres (NRCs) and European topic centres (ETCs).

United Kingdom Interests

UK National Focal Point

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Contact: John Custance, Head of Division, Environmental Protection Statistics and Information Management Division, Environment Protection Strategy Directorate, Defra, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6DE
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7944 6440  Email:  enviro.statistics@dtlr.gov.uk

Other Interested Departments and Organisations

Natural Environmental Research Council, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, SN2 1EU

Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department

The Wales Office

Northern Ireland Executive Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department

Briefing and Reporting Mechanisms

The EEA is required to produce an annual report detailing its activities over the previous year. It also issues a regular newsletter to member states reporting recent developments within the Agency. The UK National Focal Point issues a newsletter to provide information on the work of the Agency to all members of the national network and other interested organisations. Copies can be obtained from the address above.