The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union devoted to establishing a network for the monitoring of the European environment. It is governed by a Management Board composed of representatives of the governments of member states, a European Commission representative and two scientists appointed by the European Parliament, assisted by a committee of scientists.
It was established by EEC Regulation 1210/1990, as amended by EEC Regulation 933/1999; and became operational in 1994. It is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.
EEA membership[]
As a European Union body, member states of the European Union are automatically members of the EEA. However the EEC Regulation establishing the EEA provided that other states may become members of it by means of agreements between them and the European Community.
As of April 2006, the EEA it had 32 members:
- 25 EU member states
- European Economic Area members (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein)
- 3 candidate countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey.
- Switzerland (since April 1, 2006).
European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change[]
The European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change (ETC/ACC) assists the EEA in its support of European Union policy in the field of air pollution and climate change. It is a consortium of 14 European institutions, established in 2001 by the EEA, with an annual budget of about 2 millions Euros, with RIVM-MNP as the lead institution. In March 2004, the EEA extended the contract with the consortium through 2006.
The ETC/ACC reports on the progress of European Union environmental policy on air quality, air pollutant emissions and climate change issues. It participates in relevant reports issued the EEA, collects data concerning the current state of the environment and coordinates European air quality monitoring networks and reporting obligations.
The ETC/ACC also maintains an online copy of the Model Documentation System (MDS) [1] which is a catalogue of most of the air quality and air pollution dispersion models developed and/or used in Europe. The MDS catalogue listings include the name, description and support contacts for each model as well as other pertinent technical details. The MDS was developed at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, by Prof. Nicolas Moussiopoulos.
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