International Involvement
The Environment Agency Austria provides advice on administrative capacity building and national environmental legislation to institutions of the European Union, new and upcoming EU Member States, and the EU Neighbourhood Policy partner countries in the East and Mediterranean region.
Since 1998 the Environment Agency Austria has participated in more than 120 country partnerships, so-called Twinning projects, in more than 27 countries. We provide assistance to authorities in administrative capacity building and in the implementation of EU law. Our geographic reach extends to EU Member States, the West Balkans, Georgia, Turkey, the Middle East and the Maghreb countries. The projects are funded by the EU.
The Environment Agency Austria is a member of more than 200 national, European and international partner networks, bodies and working groups. The Environment Agency Austria collaborates with international organisations such as UNEP and the OECD.
Cooperation in Europe
European Environment Agency
The mission of the European Environment Agency (EEA) is to create a pan-European environmental information system. This system supports the EU in their efforts to improve the environmental situation and to facilitate the transition to sustainable development.
By building a system that reaches from environmental monitoring to reporting, the EEA is able to merge the environmental data collected by member states to meaningful information at European level.
Environment Agency Austria – Partner of the EEA
Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria) is one of the most active national partner institutions in the EEA: It acts as National Focal Point (NFP), provides almost all the National Reference Centres (NRC) and is partner in four of six European Topic Centres (ETC).
European Topic Centres and our involvement:
Air pollution and Climate Change mitigation (partner)
Biological Diversity (partner)
Climate Change impacts, vulnerability and Adaptation (partner)
Waste and Material in Green Economy
Inland, Coastal and Marine waters
Urban, Land and Soil Systems (lead partner)
Tasks of the Environment Agency Austria
The Environment Agency Austria as NFP is responsible for the national contributions to the EEA’s work program and for the development of the national environment information and observation network.
This consists of NRCs for several environmental areas, in Austria mostly departments of the Environment Agency Austria. They work together either directly or through the NFP with the respective ETCs.
EIONET - Environmental information and observation
The reports of the EEA are based on the information received from the European Environmental Information and Observation Network EIONET. In EIONET over 600 environmental agencies and authorities, public and private research institutions across Europe are linked.
EEA Members
The 32 member countries currently include the 27 EU Member States in addition to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. The six West Balkan countries are cooperating countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia as well as Kosovo.