The EEA is an EU agency tasked with providing sound, independent information on the environment. It operates as major information source for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and also the general public.
EEA's mandate is to:
EEA staff are primarily located at the organisation's headquarters in Copenhagen and include experts on environment and sustainable development, information management and communication.
But the agency also leads the Eionet European environment observation network, which involves over 300 institutions across Europe.
To do this, the agency closely cooperates with the designated national contact (or 'focal') points in participating countries, as well as other national bodies (environment agencies, ministries, etc.) responsible for coordinating Eionet activities on their territory.
To support data collection, management and analysis, the EEA has also set up and runs European Topic Centres covering major environmental issues. These centres are also networks, comprising some 90 specialised institutions across Europe.
The EEA organises its activities in yearly work programmes, each part of a 5-year work programme. The current one covers 2014–18 and is structured around 4 main themes:
The EEA's main stakeholders are:
One major audience is also the general public – the agency aims to help them gain a broader understanding of environmental and climate change issues.