1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 1210/90
of 7 May 1990
on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the European environment
information and observation network
(OJ L 120, 11.5.1990, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1 Council Regulation (EC) No 933/1999 of 29 April 1999 L 117 1 5.5.1999
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 2
▼B
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 1210/90
of 7 May 1990
on the establishment of the European Environment Agency and the
European environment information and observation network
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 130s thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas the Treaty provides for the development and implementation
of a Community policy on the environment, and lays down the objec-tives and principles which should govern such policy;
Whereas environmental protection requirements shall be a component
of the Community’s other policies;
Whereas, according to Article 130r of the Treaty, in preparing its action
relating to the environment the Community shall take account, inter
alia, of the available scientific and technical data;
Whereas, in accordance with Decision 85/338/EEC (
4), the Commission
has undertaken a work programme concerning an experimental projectfor gathering, coordinating and ensuring the consistency of informationon the state of the environment and natural resources in the Community;whereas it is now appropriate to take the necessary decisions regardinga permanent environmental information and observation system;
Whereas collection, processing and analysis of environmental data at
European level are necessary in order to provide objective, reliable andcomparable information which will enable the Community and theMember States to take the requisite measures to protect the environ-ment, to assess the results of such measures and to ensure that thepublic is properly informed about the state of the environment;
Whereas there already exist in the Community and the Member States
facilities providing such information and services;
Whereas they should form the basis for setting up a European environ-
ment information and observation network which would be coordinatedatCommunit y level by a European EnvironmentAgency;
Whereas the Agency should cooperate with existing structures at
Community level to enable the Commission to ensure full application ofCommunity legislation on the environment;
Whereas the status and structure of such an Agency should correspond
to the objective character of the results it is intended to produce andallow it to carry out its functions in close cooperation with the existingnational and international facilities;
Whereas the Agency should be granted legal autonomy while main-
taining close links with the Community institutions and the MemberStates;
Whereas it is desirable to provide for the Agency to be open to other
countries which share the concern of the Community and the MemberStates for the objectives of the Agency under agreements to beconcluded between them and the Community;
(1) OJ No C 217, 23. 8. 1989, p. 7.
(2) OJ No C 96, 17. 4. 1990.
(3) OJ No C 56, 7. 3. 1990, p. 20.
(4) OJ No L 176, 6. 7. 1985, p. 14.
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 3
▼B
Whereas this Regulation should be reviewed after two years, with a
view to deciding on further tasks for the Agency,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. This Regulation establishes the European Environment Agency
and aims at the setting-up of a European environment information andobservation network.
▼
M1
2. To achieve the aims of environmental protection and improvementlaid down by the Treaty and by successive Community actionprogrammes on the environment, as well as of sustainable development,the objective shall be to provide the Community and the Member Stateswith:
▼
B
— objective, reliable and comparable information at European level
enabling them to take the requisite measures to protect the environ-ment, to assess the results of such measures and to ensure that thepublic is properly informed about the state of the environment,
— to that end, the necessary technical and scientific support.
Article 2
For the purposes of achieving the objective set out in Article 1, the tasks
of the Agency shall be:
(i) to establish, in cooperation with the Member States, and coordi-
nate the network referred to in Article 4. In this context, theAgency shall be responsible for the collection, processing andanalysis of data, in particular in the fields referred to in Article 3.It shall also be responsible for continuing the work started underDecision 85/338/EEC;
▼
M1
(ii) — to provide the Community and the Member States with the
objective information necessary for framing and implementingsound and effective environmental policies; to that end, inparticular to provide the Commission with the informationthat it needs to be able to carry out successfully its tasks ofidentifying, preparing and evaluating measures and legislationin the field of the environment;
— to assist the monitoring of environmental measures through
appropriate support for reporting requirements (includingthrough involvement in the development of questionnaires, theprocessing of reports from Member States and the distributionof results), in accordance with its multiannual work-programme and with the aim of coordinating reporting;
— to advise individual Member States, upon their request and
where this is consistent with the Agency’s annual work-programme, on the development, establishment and expansionof their systems for the monitoring of environmental meas-ures, provided such activities do not endanger the fulfilmentof the other tasks established by this Article. Such advice mayalso include peer reviews by experts at the specific request ofMember States;
(iii) to record, collate and assess data on the state of the environment,
to draw up expert reports on the quality, sensitivity and pressureson the environment within the territory of the Community, toprovide uniform assessment criteria for environmental data to beapplied in all Member States, to develop further and maintain areference centre of information on the environment. The Commis-sion shall use this information in its task of ensuring the imple-mentation of Community legislation on the environment;
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 4
▼B
(iv) to help ensure that environmental data at European level are
comparable and, if necessary, to encourage by appropriate meansimproved harmonization of methods of measurement;
(v) to promote the incorporation of European environmental informa-
tion into international environment monitoring programmes suchas those established by the United Nations and its specializedagencies;
▼
M1
(vi) to publish a report on the state of, trends in and prospects for the
environment every five years, supplemented by indicator reportsfocusing upon specific issues;
▼
B
(vii) to stimulate the development and application of environmental
forecasting techniques so that adequate preventive measures canbe taken in good time;
(viii) to stimulate the development of methods of assessing the cost of
damage to the environment and the costs of environmentalpreventive, protection and restoration policies;
(ix) to stimulate the exchange of information on the best technologies
available for preventing or reducing damage to the environment;
(x) to cooperate with the bodies and programmes referred to in
Article 15;
▼
M1
(xi) to ensure the broad dissemination of reliable and comparable
environmental information, in particular on the state of the envir-onment, to the general public and, to this end, to promote the useof new telematics technology for this purpose;
(xii) to support the Commission in the process of exchange of informa-
tion on the development of Environmental Assessment methodol-ogies and bestpract ice;
(xiii) to assist the Commission in the diffusion of information on the
results of relevant environmental research and in a form whichcan bestassistpolicy development .
▼
B
Article 3
1. The principal areas of activity of the Agency shall, as far as
possible, include all elements enabling it to gather the informationmaking it possible to describe the present and foreseeable state of theenvironment from the following points of view:
(i) the quality of the environment;
(ii) the pressures on the environment;
(iii) the sensitivity of the environment;
►
M1including placing these in the context of sustainable develop-
ment.◄
2. The Agency shall furnish information which can be directly used
in the implementation of Community environmental policy.
Priority will be given to the following areas of work:
— air quality and atmospheric emissions,— water quality, pollutants and water resources,— the state of the soil, of the fauna and flora, and of biotopes,— land use and natural resources,— waste management,— noise emissions,— chemical substances which are hazardous for the environment,
▼
M1
— coastal and marine protection.
▼B
In particular, transfrontier, plurinational and global phenomena shall be
covered.
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 5
▼B
The socioeconomic dimension shall also be taken into account.
▼M1
3. The Agency may also cooperate in the exchange of information
with other bodies, including with the IMPEL network.
In its activities the Agency shall avoid duplicating the existing activities
of other institutions and bodies.
▼B
Article 4
1. The network shall comprise:
— the main component elements of the national information networks,— the national focal points,— the topic centres.
2. To enable the network to be set up as rapidly and as efficiently as
possible, the Member States shall, within six months of the entry intoforce of this Regulation, inform the Agency of the main componentelements of their national environment information networks, especiallyin the priority areas referred to in Article 3 (2), including any institutionwhich in their judgement could contribute to the work of the Agency,taking into account the need to ensure the fullest possible geographicalcoverage of their territory.
▼
M1
Member States shall keep the Agency informed of the main componentelements of their national environment information networks. MemberStates shall, as appropriate, cooperate with the Agency and contribute tothe work of the European environment information and observationnetwork in accordance with the work programme of the Agency bycollecting, collating and analysing data nationwide. Member States mayalso join to cooperate in these activities at a transnational level.
▼
B
3. Member States may in particular designate from among the insti-tutions referred to in paragraph 2 or other organizations established intheir territory a ‘national focal point' for coordinating and/or transmit-ting the information to be supplied at national level to the Agency andto the institutions or bodies forming part of the network including thetopic centres referred to in paragraph 4.
4. Member States may also, within the period laid down in paragraph
2, identify the institutions or other organizations established in theirterritory which could be specifically entrusted with the task of cooper-ating with the Agency as regards certain topics of particular interest. Aninstitution thus identified should be in a position to conclude an agree-ment with the Agency to act as a topic centre of the network for specifictasks►
M1 ◄. These centres shall cooperate with other
institutions which form part of the network.
5. Within six months of receiving the information referred to in
paragraph 2, the Agency shall confirm the main elements of the networkon the basis of a decision by the management board and the arrange-ments referred to in Article 5.
▼
M1
The topic centres shall be designated by the management board asdefined in Article 8(1), for a period not exceeding the duration of eachmultiannual work programme as referred to in Article 8(4). Each desig-nation may, however, be renewed.
▼
B
6. The allocation of specific tasks to the topic centres shall appear inthe Agency’s multiannual work programme mentioned in Article 8 (4).
7. In the light in particular of the multiannual work programme, the
Agency shall periodically re-examine the component elements of thenetwork as referred to in paragraph 2 and shall make such changes as
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 6
▼B
may be decided on by the management board, taking account of anynew designations made by the Member States.
Article 5
The Agency may agree with the institutions or bodies which form part
of the network, as referred to in Article 4, upon the necessary arrange-ments, in particular contracts, for successfully carrying out the taskswhich it may entrust to them. A Member State may provide, as regardsthe national institutions or organizations in its territory, that sucharrangements with the Agency shall be made in agreement with thenational focal point.
Article 6
Environmental data supplied to or emanating from the Agency may be
published and shall be made accessible to the public, subject to compli-ance with the rules of the Commission and the Member States on thedissemination of information, particularly as regards confidentiality.
Article 7
The Agency shall have legal personality. It shall enjoy in all the
Member States the most extensive legal capacity accorded to legalpersons under their laws.
Article 8
▼
M1
1. The Agency shall have a managementboard consist ing of onerepresentative of each Member State and two representatives of theCommission. In addition, there may be one representative of each othercountry which participates in the Agency, in accordance with the rele-vant. provisions.
▼
B
In addition, the European Parliament shall designate, as members of themanagement board, two scientific personalities particularly qualified inthe field of environmental protection, who shall be chosen on the basisof the personal contribution they are likely to make to the Agency’swork.
Each member of the management board may be represented by an
alternate member.
2. The managementboard shall electit s chairman from among it s
members for a period of three years and shall adopt its rules of proce-dure. Each member of the management board shall have a vote.
▼
M1
The managementboard shall electa bureau t o which itmay delegat eexecutive decisions, according to the rules that it shall adopt.
3. Decisions of the management board shall require for their adop-
tion a two-thirds majority of the members of the board.
4. The managementboard shall adopta mult iannual work-
programme based on the priority areas referred to in Article 3(2), usingas its basis a draft submitted by the Executive Director referred to inArticle 9, after consulting the scientific committee, referred to in Article10, and receiving the Commission’s opinion. The multiannual work-programme shall, without prejudice to the annual Community budgetaryprocedure, include a multiannual budget estimate.
▼
B
5. Under the multiannual programme, the management board shalleach year adopt the Agency’s work programme on the basis of a draftsubmitted by the Executive Director after consulting the scientificcommittee and receiving the Commission’s opinion. The programmemay be adjusted in the course of the year by the same procedure.
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 7
▼B
6.►M1By 31 March each year ◄at the latest, the management
board shall adopt an annual general report on the activities of theAgency. The Executive Director shall forward it to the European Parlia-ment, the Council, the Commission and the Member States.
Article 9
1. The Agency shall be headed by an Executive Director appointed
by the management board on a proposal from the Commission for aperiod of five years, which shall be renewable. The Executive Directorshall be the legal representative of the Agency. He shall be responsible:
— for the proper preparation and execution of the decisions and
programmes adopted by the management board,
— for the day-to-day administration of the Agency,— for the performance of the tasks defined in Articles 12 and 13,— for the preparation and publication of the reports specified in Article
2 (vi),
▼
M1
— for all staff matters, for the performance of the tasks referred to in
Article 8(4) and (5).
▼B
He shall obtain the opinion of the scientific committee, referred to in
Article 10, for the purposes of recruitment of the Agency’s scientificstaff.
2. The Executive Director shall be accountable to the management
board for his activities.
Article 10
1. The management board and the Executive Director shall be
assisted by a scientific committee which shall deliver an opinion whereprovided for in this Regulation and on any scientific matter concerningthe Agency’s activity which the management board or the ExecutiveDirector may submit to it.
The opinions of the scientific committee shall be published.
▼
M1
2. The scientific committee shall be made up of members particularlyqualified in the field of the environment, designated by the managementboard for a term of four years renewable once, taking into account, interalia, the scientific areas which need to be represented in the committeein order to assist the Agency in its areas of activity. It shall function asdetermined by the rules of procedure provided for in Article 8(2).
▼
B
Article 11
1. Estimates shall be drawn up of all the Agency’s revenue and
expenditure for each financial year, which shall correspond to thecalendar year, and shall be entered in the Agency’s budget.
2. The revenue and expenditure shown in the budget shall be in
balance.
3. The revenue of the Agency shall, without prejudice to other
resources, consist of a subsidy from the Community entered in thegeneral budget of the European Communities and payments for servicesrendered.
4. The expenditure of the Agency shall include, inter alia, staff remu-
neration, administrative and infrastructure expenses, operating costs andexpenditure relating to contracts concluded with institutions or bodiesforming part of the network and with third parties.
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 8
▼B
Article 12
1. By 31 March each year the Executive Director shall draw up a
draft estimate of the Agency’s revenue and expenditure for thefollowing financial year and shall forward it to the management board,together with an establishment plan.
2. The management board shall draw up the estimate accompanied
by the establisment plan and shall forward it immediately to theCommission, which on that basis shall establish the relevant estimatesin t he preliminary draftbudgetwhich itplaces before t he Councilpursuant to Article 203 of the Treaty.
3. The managementboard shall adoptt he Agency’s budgetbefore
the beginning of the financial year, adjusting it were necessary to theCommunity subsidiy and the Agency’s other resources.
Article 13
1. The Executive Director shall implement the budget of the Agency.2. Monitoring of the commitment and payment of all the Agency’s
expenditure and of the establishment and recovery of all the Agency’srevenue shall be carried out by the financial controller appointed by themanagementboard.
3. By 31 March each year the Executive Director shall send the
Commission, the management board and the Court of Auditors theaccounts for all the Agency’s revenue and expenditure in respect of thepreceding financial year. The Court of Auditors shall examine them inaccordance with Article 206a of the Treaty.
4. The management board shall give a discharge to the Executive
Director in respect of the implementation of the budget.
Article 14
After the Court of Auditors has delivered its opinion, the management
board shall adopt the internal financial provisions specifiying, in partic-ular, the procedure for establishing and implementing the Agency’sbudget.
Article 15
1. The Agency shall actively seek the cooperation of other
Community bodies and programmes, and notably the Joint ResearchCentre, the Statistical Office and the Community’s environmentalresearch and developmentprogrammes. In part icular:
— cooperation with the Joint Research Centre shall include the tasks
setoutin t he Annex under A,
— coordination with the Statistical Office of the European Communi-
ties (Eurostat) and the statistical programme of the EuropeanCommunities will follow the guidelines outlined in the Annex underB.
2. The Agency shall also cooperate actively with other bodies such
as the European Space Agency, the Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development, the Council of Europe and the Inter-national Energy Agency as well as the United Nations and its special-ized agencies, particularly the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization and the InternationalAtomic Energy Authority.
▼
M1
2a. The Agency may cooperate in areas of common interest withthose institutions in countries which are not members of the EuropeanCommunities which can provide data, information and expertise, meth-odologies of data collection, analysis and assessment which are ofmutual interest and which are necessary for the successful completionof the Agency’s work.
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 9
▼M1
3. The cooperation referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 2a must in
particular take account of the need to avoid any duplication of effort.
▼B
Article 16
The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European
Communities shall apply to the Agency.
Article 17
The staff of the Agency shall be subject to the Regulations and Rules
applicable to officials and other servants of the European Communities.
The Agency shall exercise in respect of its staff the powers devolved to
the Appointing Authority.
The managementboard shall, in agreementwit h t he Commission, adopt
the appropriate implementing rules.
Article 18
1. The contractual liability of the Agency shall be governed by the
law applicable to the contract in question. The Court of Justice of theEuropean Communities shall have jurisdiction to give judgmentpursuant to an arbitration clause contained in a contract concluded bythe Agency.
2. In the case of non-contractual liability, the Agency shall, in
accordance with the general principles common to the laws of theMember States, make good any damage caused by the Agency or itsservants in the performance of their duties.
The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in disputes relating to
compensation for any such damage.
3. The personal liability of servants towards the Agency shall be
governed by the provisions applying to the staff of the Agency.
Article 19
The Agency is open to countries which are not members of the Euro-
pean Communities but which share the concern of the Communities andthe Member States for the objectives of the Agency under agreementsconcluded between them and the Community following the procedure inArticle 228 of the Treaty.
Article 20
▼
M1
1. The Agency shall conduct an evaluation of its performance andefficiency before 15 September 1999 and submit a report to themanagement board, the Commission, the Council and the EuropeanParliament.
2. Not later than 31 December 2003, on the basis of a report from the
Commission, the Council shall review the progress of, and tasks under-taken by, the Agency in relation to the Community’s overall policy onthe environment.
▼
B
Article 21
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that on
which the competent authorities have decided the seat of the Agency (1).
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.
(1) The date of entry into force of the Regulation shall be published in the
Official Journal.
1990R1210 — EN — 05.05.1999 — 001.001 — 10
▼B
ANNEX
A.Cooperation with the Joint Research Centre
— Harmonization of environmental measurement methods (1).
— Intercalibration of instruments (1).
— Standardization of data formats.— Development of new environmental measurement methods and instru-
ments.
— Other tasks as agreed between the Excutive Director of the Agency and
the Director-General of the Joint Research Centre.
B.Cooperation with Eurostat
▼
M1
1. The Agency will use, as far as possible, information collected via the
official Community statistical services. These result from the work ofEurostat and the national statistical services in collecting, validating anddisseminating social and economic statistics, including national accountsand related information. In particular, the Agency will make use of workdone by Eurostat and the national statistical offices under Decision 94/808/EEC (
2), covering statistics on (a) human activities resulting in pres-
sure on the environment and (b) societal and economic responses to suchpressures.
▼
B
2. The statistical programme in the field of the environment will be agreed
between the Executive Director of the Agency and the Director-General ofEurostat and will be submitted for approval to the management board ofthe Agency and the Statistical Programme Committee.
3. The statistical programme shall be conceived and implemented within the
framework established by the international statistical bodies, such as theUN Statistical Commission, the Conference of European Statisticians andthe OECD.
(1) Cooperation in these areas shall also take account of the work carried out by the
Community Bureau of Reference.
(2) Council Decision 94/808/EEC of 15 December 1994 adopting a four-year develop-
ment programme (1994 to 1997) relating to the environmental component of Commu-nity statistics (OJ L 328, 20.12.1994, p. 58).