EIONET

The European environment information and observation network (Eionet) aims to provide timely and quality-assured data, information and expertise for assessing the state of the environment in Europe and the pressures acting upon it. This enables policy-makers to decide on appropriate measures for protecting the environment at national and European level and to monitor the effectiveness of policies and measures implemented.

Eionet is a partnership network of the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its member and cooperating countries. It consists of the EEA itself, six European Topic Centres (ETCs) and a network of around 1000 experts from 39 countries in over 350 national environment agencies and other bodies dealing with environmental information. These are the National Focal Points (NFPs) and the National Reference Centres (NRCs).

The Eionet partnership is crucial to the EEA in supporting the collection and organisation of data and the development and dissemination of information. The organisations and individuals in the network are supported by an extensive information technology infrastructure (referred to as e-Eionet).

Through Eionet, the EEA coordinates the delivery of timely, nationally validated, high-quality environmental data from individual countries. This forms the basis of integrated environmental assessments and knowledge that is disseminated and made accessible through the EEA website. This information serves to support environmental management processes, environmental policy making and assessment, and public participation at national, European and global levels.