VIDEO
A general introduction to the EEA
The European Environmental Agency
Overview
Since its establishment in 1990, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has developed from a primarily EU entity to a body consisting of 31 members from the EU and its neighbors, with further members contemplated. Its function is to collect and assess environmental information to assist in the development of policy at EU level, and to inform the public.
To this end, it has collated an extensive database of information, in a harmonized and accessible format, on areas from water, air and waste, to biodiversity and climate change.
The description of the EEA from its website is instructive:
The EEA aims to support sustainable development and to help achieve significant and measurable improvement in Europe’s environment through the provision of timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the public.
The EEA has produced numerous reports, case studies and other publications, and in doing so has drawn upon sources of information from the European Environment Information and Observation Network, which operates between the EEA member countries, and an extensive network of similar bodies throughout the world.
The result is an ongoing work programme focusing on key factors influencing the environment (such as transport), and a database of environmental information which is invaluable to policy-makers, researchers, and the general public.
Historical background and development
- EU Treaty provisions
Environmental protection as a policy and objective did not feature in the original Treaty of Rome, which was characterized by provisions relating to economic objectives such as competition policy, common agricultural policy, and the establishment of a common customs tariff. Amendments to the Treaty have introduced, first, competence in the area of environmental policy-making, and, secondly, responsibility for the implementation of key objectives such as environmental protection and sustainable development.
Although the Community had published a number of environmental action programmes from 1973 onwards, the substantive legislative basis for action by the Community, and for the gathering of information necessary to develop policy in the area, did not develop until the 1980s.
The Single European Act of 1987 (SEA) was a critical development in environmental policy-making in the Community. The SEA inserted Art 130r into the Treaty, which provided that action by the Community relating to the environment should have the objectives of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment, contributing to human health and ensuring a prudent and rational utilization of natural resources.
Article 130r (2), as inserted by the SEA, provided as follows:
Action by the Community relating to the environment shall be based on the principles that preventive action should be taken, that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source, and that the polluter should pay. Environmental protection requirements shall be a component of the Community’s other policies.
Article 130r (3) provided that, in order to achieve the above objectives: The Community shall take account of [inter alia] the available scientific and technical data.
The Rhodes Declaration of 1988, following the European Council summit of that year, referred to the need for action in the area of environmental protection.
The Declaration recognized: the urgent need to find solutions to global issues such as the depletion of the ozone layer, the rise in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere, threats to the natural environment …and stated that: effective action will in many cases require better scientific research and understanding.
The Declaration went on to state that, although the goals of environmental protection had been defined by the SEA, it was essential to increase efforts to protect the environment directly, and ‘to ensure that such protection becomes an integral component of other policies’. In addition, it stated that: sustainable development must be one of the overriding objectives of all Community policies.
Greater integration of environmental considerations into policy-making, and a leading role for the Community and the Member States in the action needed to protect the world’s environment was specifically contemplated by the Declaration.
The proposal for the creation of the EEA followed in 1989.
The Commissioner in charge of the Environment, in presenting the proposal, opined that the purpose of the Agency was: to aid the Member States in meeting the environmental protection and restoration goals, as defined in the Treaty and in the different environmental programmes of the Community.
The Treaty on European Union of 1992 (TEU) amended Art 3 of the Treaty to specify that a policy in the sphere of the environment would be included as an activity of the Community for the purposes set out in Art 2 of the Treaty.
Article 2 was amended by the TEU to include, as a task of the Community, the promotion of sustainable and non-inflationary growth respecting the environment.
In addition, Art 130r was amended by the TEU to enhance the position of environmental policy in Community actions.
The promotion of measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems was added as an additional objective of Community policy on the environment, at Art 130r (1). In addition, Art 130r (2) was amended to provide that: Community policy on the environment shall aim at a high level of protection taking into account the diversity of situations in the various regions of the Community … Environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the Community’s other policies.
The italicized text replaced the less prescriptive formula from the original Art 130r, which had provided that environmental protection requirements should ‘be a component of’ the Community’s other policies.
The Amsterdam Treaty of 1997 inserted a new Art 3c (now Art 6) into the Treaty, as follows: Environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of the Community policies and activities referred to in Article 3, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development.
Accordingly, the scheme of the Treaty is now such that environmental objectives are integrated into EU policy-making generally. The availability of comprehensive, objective and reliable source information, and the harmonization throughout the Community of the format of such information, is of critical importance to environmental decision-making, not only at EU level but also for Member States.
- Council Decision 85/338/EEC
The purpose of Council Decision 85/338/EEC was to set up a project for the collection and co-ordination of environmental data in the Community, and to ensure the consistency of information on the environment and natural resources in the Community. It was recognised in the recitals to the Decision that the implementation of the Community environmental action programmes necessitated: consistent and comparable information on the state of the environment and natural resources in the Community. The objective of the Decision is elaborated in its recitals, stating that its aims were to assemble the basic information on the state of the environment in the Community in respect of measures in specified fields, and to facilitate implementation of environmental policies at Community, national or regional levels.
Since the Treaty had not provided the powers for gathering, co-ordinating and ensuring the consistency of the information to be gathered, the Decision was based on Art 235 of the Treaty. Article 235 (now Art 308) enables the Council to take appropriate measures where the Treaty has not provided the necessary powers for action by the Community which is necessary to attain one of its objectives.
Article 1 of the Decision provided that the Commission work programmes ‘consisting of an experimental project for gathering, co-coordinating and ensuring the consistency of information on the state of the environment and natural resources in the Community’ was adopted for a period of four years from 1985.
The objective of the programme, as articulated in the Annex to the Decision, was to: provide results which will be of direct use in implementing the Community’s environmental policy and make it possible to judge the advisability of going ahead with the establishment of an information system on the state of the environment in the Community.
The Decision is no longer in force, but the EEA was specifically assigned responsibility for continuing the work started under the Decision by Art 2(i) of the 1990 Regulation.
3. Contextual framework – the EEA in context
$11) Role in informing policy-making
The quality of information relating to the environment is an essential element of policy-making in this area. Environmental protection legislation is highly specific and depends to a large extent on the specification of standards and thresholds, or the assessment of effects on the environment, which trigger the application of an extensive body of rules.
The EEA’s Executive Director stated in its 1999 brochure that considerable efforts were being made to ensure that its publications were directly relevant to the current and emerging European political agenda, given that: environmental information will be vital in supporting progress towards the new goal of sustainable development established under the Amsterdam Treaty.
The EEA’s mission, as articulated in its brochure, is: to deliver timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-makers and the public for the development and implementation of sound environmental policies in the European Union and other EEA member countries.
In addition, the identification of warning signs and analysis of trends is of critical importance in policy-making. The EEA seeks to identify and respond to trends that may exert negative influences on the environment in the future, and to ensure that the EU is equipped to formulate the appropriate response to such dynamics. In addition, the availability of an accurate and authoritative source of environmental data is essential to ensure consistency of policy-making between the EU and the Member States.
$12) Autonomy and objectivity
The EEA enjoys separate legal personality from the EU institutions, and was specifically established as a legally autonomous body. This reflects the nature of the EEA as a high-level body for the generation of objective data relating to the environment. The recitals to the 1990 Regulation state that: … the status and structure of the Agency should correspond to the objective character of the results it is intended to produce and allow it to carry out its functions in close co-operation with existing national and international facilities. Article 2(iii) of the 1990 Regulation provides that amongst the tasks of the EEA shall be the provision of ‘uniform assessment criteria for environmental data to be applied in all Member States’, and the further development of ‘a reference centre of information on the environment’. Information sharing based on common technical platforms is also an important aspect of the operation of the EEA’s network.
$13) Provision of information to public
The recitals to Council Decision 85/338 EEC refer to the role of the information gathering exercise contemplated by that Decision in terms of informing public opinion. The 1990 Regulation provides at Art 1(2) that one of the objectives of the EEA shall be to ensure that the public is properly informed about the state of the environment.
The EEA achieves this aspect of its mandate through a number of channels, including its website at www.eea.eu.int, its newsletter published quarterly, its library and information centre, and other initiatives such as the Green Spider Network consisting of information officers in the environmental field.
$14) Legal basis and evolution
The legal basis of the EEA is derived from the EU Treaty provisions discussed above, and from the 1990 and 1999 Regulations.
Regulation 1210/90/EEC (the 1990 Regulation)
Article 1 provides that: This Regulation establishes the European Environment Agency and aims at the setting-up of a European environment information and observation network.
The recitals to the Regulation give useful background as to the reasoning for the establishment of the Agency: Whereas collection, processing and analysis of environmental data at European level are necessary in order to provide objective, reliable and comparable information which will enable the Community and the Member States to take the requisite measures to protect the environment, to assess the results of such measures and to ensure that the public is properly informed about the state of the environment.
Accordingly, the Regulation recognizes that an accurate information system is required not only for the purpose of proper decision-making, but also to keep the public properly informed as to the condition of the environment.
The objectives of the EEA are set out at Art 1(2), and include the following:
(a) To provide objective, reliable and comparable information at European level enabling the Community and the Member States to take the requisite measures to protect the environment, and to assess the results of such measures;
(b) To ensure that the public is properly informed about the state of the environment; and
(c) To provide the necessary technical and scientific support to achieve the above objectives.
The objectives are designed with the following aims in mind:
(a) To achieve the aims of environmental protection and improvement lay down by the Treaty and by successive Community action programmers on the environment;
(b) To achieve the aim of sustainable development (inserted by the 1999 Regulation).
The tasks of the EEA are set out at Art 2. Its principal task is to establish and coordinate a network for information and observation of the environment. The EEA was also assigned responsibility ‘for continuing the work started under Decision 85/338/EEC’.
The other tasks assigned to the EEA included the following:
(a) To provide the Community and Member States with the objective information necessary for the formulation and implementation of environmental policies;
(b) To record, collate and assess data on the state of the environment;
(c) To help ensure comparability of environmental data at European level;
(d) To stimulate the development and application of environmental forecasting;
(e) To stimulate information exchange on the best technologies available for preventing or reducing environmental damage.
Article 3 clarified the scope of the areas of activity of the EEA by providing that the principal areas of activity of the EEA should include all elements necessary in order to describe both the current and future position in terms of the quality and sensitivity of the environment, and the pressures on the environment.
Priority areas are specified in Art 3(2), including air quality and atmospheric emissions, water quality, waste management, and noise emissions. The educational role of the EEA is highlighted by the provision in Art 6 that environmental data supplied to or emanating from the Agency may, subject to specified exceptions, be published and shall be made accessible to the public. It is notable that the Regulation specifically contemplated that the EEA might include members from non-EU countries, in circumstances where such countries shared the concern of the Communities and of the Member States for the objectives of the EEA.
Regulation 933/99/EC (the 1999 Regulation)
The 1999 Regulation recites that the EEA: has made good progress in achieving its objectives and completing its tasks, including the establishment of the European environment information and observation network.
The recitals also addressed areas of concern, such as the fact that the organization and structure of the EEA needed improvement and clarification, and the geographical distribution of topic centers in the Community.
The 1999 Regulation specifically integrates the principle of sustainable development into the work of the EEA, by including the principle amongst the aims of the EEA set out at Art 1(2). The principle is also included as an area of activity of the EEA. As a result, in addition to its original activity of describing the present and foreseeable state of the environment from the point of view of quality, pressures on the environment and sensitivity of the environment, the EEA must also place each of these elements in the context of sustainable development.
The 1999 Regulation also reorganized the EEA management board by providing that each country participating in the EEA should have a representative on the board. Hitherto, the composition of the management board, in addition to two representatives of the Commission, and two scientific personalities qualified in the area of environmental protection (nominated by the European Parliament) had been confined to representatives of Member States.
