European Environment Agency, European information and observation (amend. Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90)

Adopting the report by Mr Kenneth D. COLLINS (PSE, UK), the European Parliament considered that the European Environment Agency should give an opinion at the request of any EU institution or at its own initiative (at present it only gives an opinion at the request of the European Commission). Parliament also called for: - the Commission to cooperate with the Agency by using the information which it supplied for legislative initiatives or acts; - the Agency to establish a repository of information on the environment , to assess data on the state of the environment and to draw up expert reports on the quality and sensitivity of the environment. The Agency should also provide uniform assessment criteria for environmental data to be applied in all Member States. In addition, the Commission should use this information to ensure that Community legislation on the environment was implemented and complied with; - the Agency to ensure, wherever possible, that information was disseminated in all the official languages of the EU and to cooperate with third countries in areas of common interest; - the governing body of the Agency to adopt a multi-annual working programme based on a series of priority areas such as the quality of the air, water, soil and flora and fauna, waste management, noise emissions etc. This working programme should have a multi-annual budget. Finally, Parliament called for a report to be drafted by the end of 2003 on the EU's global policy on the environment, together with a cost/effectiveness evaluation of the actions undertaken. An initial evaluation report should be forwarded to the European Parliament by 15 September 1999.�