The European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Eionet network

The Eionet network, European Environment Information and Observation Network, is a partnership network between the European Environment Agency (EEA - European Environment Agency) and its 38 member and cooperating countries, active since 1994, whose development and coordination is entrusted to the Agency itself. The network is based on solid institutional cooperation with the aim of sharing data, information, indicators and analyzes, as well as the infrastructures, standards and tools necessary for their profitable exchange.
Through Eionet, the EEA brings together validated and high-quality environmental data and information from individual countries, committing to return them in an integrated European-level vision. The goal is therefore to provide information to citizens and policy makers on the state of the environment and, consequently, on the impact of the environmental policies introduced.
To this end, the EEA works closely with the National Focal Points (NFP), which are entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating the national reference networks in the field of environmental information. In particular, the NFP, as Head of cooperation with the EEA and with the European Topic Centers (ETC), coordinates at national level the activities related to the strategy and the work program of the EEA, through the involvement of networks.
The role of NFP, to ensure effective coordination and connection with the National System for the Protection of the Environment (SNPA) and with the world of University and Research, is entrusted to a Team of the DG-SINA Service at the inside the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA).

The European Environment Agency (EEA), through the EIOnet network (Environmental Information and Observation Network) and its reporting system Reportnet, collects from member countries and makes available a series of data and information on the various environmental issues of competence. of the Agency: EIOnet priority flows.

Starting from 2020, the EEA has started a review and modernization process of the Eionet network.
The review mainly concerned the functions, structure and governance model of the (former) National Reference Centers (NRCs) to ensure the development of the aforementioned network based on new needs and to contribute to the implementation of the 'EEA 2021-2030, of the national priorities and work programs of the Agency starting from 2022 onwards, but also the introduction of a new figure called "National Data Flow Coordinator" (NDFC) .
The modernization process ended in March 2022. The Eionet network is now composed of 13 groups called "Eionet Groups" to which, in some cases, "Thematic Groups" are associated.

The main stages of the modernization process of the aforementioned network and the explanation of the current operation are described in the dedicated page.