Regulation 2009/401 - European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Codified version)

Contents

  1. Summary of Legislation
  2. Legislative text

1.

Summary of Legislation

The EU’s environment agency - environmental information and monitoring

Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 - the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

ACT

Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

SUMMARY

WHAT DOES THE REGULATION DO?

The regulation describes the aims and objectives of the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET). This enables them to provide information in support of the formulation of EU environmental policy.

KEY POINTS

The EEA is an EU agency whose objective is to protect and improve the environment and support sustainable development. It does this by providing objective, reliable and comparable information so that:

 

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measures are taken to protect the environment;
 

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the results of such measures are assessed;
 

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the public is kept informed about the state of the environment;
 

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EU countries have the necessary technical and scientific support.

It has the following principal tasks:

 

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to collect, process and analyse data to provide the EU with the objective information necessary for effective environmental policies;
 

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to assist the monitoring of environmental measures;
 

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to collate, assess and disseminate data on the state of the environment to the general public;
 

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to ensure that data are comparable Europe-wide;
 

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to promote the incorporation of EU data into international monitoring programmes such as those of the United Nations;
 

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to stimulate the development of methods of assessing the cost of damage to the environment and the costs of preventive, protection and restoration policies;
 

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to stimulate the exchange of information on the best technologies available for preventing or reducing damage to the environment;
 

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to publish a report on the state of, trends in and prospects for the environment every 5 years.

The data covered include:

 

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air quality and noise pollution;
 

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water quality;
 

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the state of the soil and of fauna and flora;
 

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land use and natural resources;
 

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waste management
 

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chemical substances;
 

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coastal and marine protection;
 

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climate change and adaptation to climate change.

The EEA Board includes 1 representative from each of its member countries, 2 from the European Commission and 2 scientific experts appointed by the European Parliament. An Executive Director is responsible for day-to-day management.

The EEA cooperates with other EU and international bodies, such as the EU’s statistical office (Eurostat) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organisation.

EIONET, coordinated by the EEA, is the EU’s information network on environmental issues. It has representation from all EU countries, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

SINCE WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

As of 10 June 2009.

BACKGROUND

European Environment Agency website.

REFERENCES

 

Act

Entry into force

Deadline for transposition in the Member States

Official Journal

Regulation (EC) No 401/2009

10.6.2009

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OJ L 126, 21.5.2009, pp. 13-22

last update 22.09.2015

This summary has been adopted from EUR-Lex.

2.

Legislative text

Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Codified version)