Resources made available to the Agency in 2009

Areas of Union competence deriving from the Treaty

Environment policy Union policy on the environment shall contribute to pursuit (…) the objectives of preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment, protecting human health, prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources, promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems, and in particular combating climate change. Union 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 Union. It shall be based on the precautionary principle and 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. (…) In preparing its policy (…), the Union shall take account of available scientific and technical data environmental conditions in the various regions of the Union, the potential benefits and costs of action or lack of action, the economic and social development of the Union as a whole and the balanced development of its regions (…). (Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)

Objectives — To set up a European environment information and observation network to provide the Union and the Member States with: 1. Objective, reliable and comparable information at European level enabling them to: (a) take the requisite measures to protect the environment; (b) assess the results of such measures; (c) ensure that the public is properly informed about the state of the environment. 2. The necessary technical and scientific support.

Tasks — To establish, in cooperation with the Member States, and coordinate the European Environment Information and Observation Network. — To provide the Union and the Member States with the objective information necessary for framing and implementing sound and effective environmental policies. — To assist the monitoring of environmental measures through appropriate support for reporting requirements. — To advise individual Member States on the development, establishment and expansion of their systems for the monitoring of environmental measures. — To record, collate and assess data on the state of the environment, to report on the quality of and pressures on the environment within the territory of the Union, to provide uniform assessment criteria for environmental data to be applied in all Member States and to develop further and maintain a reference centre of information on the environment. — To help ensure that environmental data at European level are comparable and, if necessary, to encourage by appropriate means improved harmonisation of methods of measurement. — To promote the incorporation of European environmental data into international programmes. — To publish a report on the state of, trends in and prospects for the environment every five years. — To stimulate the development of environmental forecasting techniques, exchanges of information on technologies for preventing or reducing damage to the environment, methods of assessing the costs of damage to the environment and the costs of environmental preventive, protection and restoration policies; and — To ensure the broad dissemination of reliable and comparable environmental information, in particular on the state of the environment, to the general public and, to this end, to promote the use of new telematics technology for this purpose.

1 — Management Board Composition — One representative per member country, — two representatives of the Commission, — two scientists appointed by the European Parliament. Tasks To adopt the multiannual and annual work programmes and ensure their implementation. 2 — Executive Director Appointed by the Management Board on a proposal from the Commission. 3 — Scientific Committee Consisting of qualified figures in the field of the environment, designated by the Management Board. 4 — External audit Court of Auditors. 5 — Discharge authority Parliament, acting on a recommendation from the Council.

Budget 39,9 million euro (37,1 million euro) Union subsidy 87 % (85 %) Staff at 31 December 2009 Number of posts in the Establishment plan: 133 (123) Posts occupied: 121 (116) plus 56 (51) other posts (contract staff and seconded national experts). Total staff numbers: 133 (123) posts assigned to the following tasks: Allocated to — operational 89 (80) — administrative 43 (42) — mixed 1 (1).