European Environment Agency - 1996 Annual Report
The 1996 Annual Report of the European Environment Agency (EEA) has recently been published. The EEA is an EU agency based in Copenhagen which has the objective of ensuring availability and supply of information for the protection and improvement of Europe's environment. 1996 was a year of consolidation for the EEA, as its second operational year. Much of the agency's work during the year concentrated on building up its information networks in the Member States. In particular, the EEA has focused on the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET), consisting of national focal points, national networks and European Topic Centres. Through these networks, the EEA is able to ensure a sound basis for its information and data gathering. Furthermore, the information gathered is built using one European system, allowing consistent evaluation and assessment of trends in Europe. During 1996, a range of reports and databases were produced and prepared. These reports, to be published in 1997, cover topics such as: the state of and trends in the environment, the development of environmental monitoring, assessments of policy instruments and processing, and increasing accessibility to existing information. The preparation of Europe's major environmental assessments, carried out every three years for the EU and for Europe as a whole, has been a significant part of the EEA's work in 1996. These two reports are due to be published in 1998, and the agency has worked on the definition of the content and process, and developing inputs during 1996. Finally, 1997 will see the evaluation of the EEA's work so far, and the revision of the multiannual work programme. In particular, links between the EEA work programme and the European political environmental agenda will be strengthened, with greater involvement of users. The EEA's work programme should also be broadened in order to strengthen support for integration of environmental considerations into all policies.