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.

What it does

EEA's mandate is to:

• help the EU and its member countries make informed decisions about improving the environment, integrating environmental considerations into economic policies and moving towards sustainability
• develop and coordinate Eionet, the network of national environmental bodies set up to help the agency.

Structure

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.

How it works

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:

• informing policy implementation – with feedback and input to EU policy frameworks, objectives and targets, through continuous reporting on progress on key environmental issues
• assessing systemic challenges – taking a macro, cross-sector and long-term view, to support the EU's Environment Action Programme
• joint knowledge creation & use – building and maintaining the networks of people and information systems
• continuously improving efficiency and effectiveness.

Who benefits

The EEA's main stakeholders are:

• European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the EU and other EU institutions
• governments in participating countries
• NGOs
• scientific & academic communities
• business organisations
• consultancies & think tanks.

One major audience is also the general public – the agency aims to help them gain a broader understanding of environmental and climate change issues.