Agencies of the European Union

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Agencies of the European Union

An agency of the European Union are decentralised bodies of the European Union (EU), which are distinct from the institutions

Institutions of the European Union

There are currently five institutions of the European Union which govern the Union. They are outlined in the treaties of the European Union in the following order: the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union ; the European Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Auditors....
. Agencies are established to accomplish specific tasks. Each agency has its own legal personality. Some answer the need to develop scientific or technical know-how in certain fields, others bring together different interest groups to facilitate dialogue at European and international level.

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Encyclopedia

An agency of the European Union are decentralised bodies of the European Union (EU), which are distinct from the institutions

Institutions of the European Union

Three pillars of the European Union

The Treaty of Maastricht, which established the European Union, divided EU policies into three main areas called pillars....
.

List

Distinct from EU institutions, the agencies of the European Union were set up to accomplish very specific tasks such as promoting environmental protection, transport safety and multilingualism. They span Europe – Dublin to Stockholm, Warsaw to Lisbon – providing services, information and know-how to the general public.

Here, the agencies are listed after different colours for the three respective pillars:

Official name	Acronym	Location	Est.	Branch
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work European Agency for Safety and Health at Work The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up in 1996 in Bilbao, Spain. Its mission is "to make Europe's workplaces safer, healthier and more productive....	EU-OSHA	Bilbao Bilbao Bilbao, is the largest city in the Basque Country in northern Spain and the capital of the province of Biscay .The city has 354,145 inhabitants and is the most financially and industrially active part of Greater Bilbao, the zone in which almost half of the Basque Country?s population lives....	1996	* EC
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training is an Agencies of the European Union of the European Union.Established in 1975, Cedefop is located in Thessaloniki, Greece....	Cedefop	Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Thessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country in Greece and the capital of Macedonia , the nation's largest Regions of Greece....	1975	* EC
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions' is a agency of the European Union, with offices located in Dublin, Ireland....	EUROFOUND	Dublin Dublin Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region....	1975	* EC
European Environment Agency European Environment Agency European Environment Agency , agency of the European Union devoted to establishing a monitoring network for the monitoring of the European environment....	EEA	Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,153,615 . Copenhagen is situated on the Islands of Zealand and Amager....	1994	* EC
European Training Foundation European Training Foundation The European Training Foundation is an agency of the European Union. Established in 1990, operational since 1994, the European Training Foundation is located in Turin, Italy....	ETF	Turin Turín Tur?n is a municipality in the Ahuachap?n Department Departments of El Salvador of El Salvador....	1994	* EC
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction is an agency of the European Union. Established in 1993, the EMCDDA is located in Lisbon, Portugal....	EMCDDA	Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the Lisbon and capital of the Lisbon region. Its municipalities of Portugal, which matches the city proper excluding the larger continuous conurbation, has a municipal population of 564,477 in , while the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in total has around 2.8 million inha...	1993	* EC
European Medicines Agency European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency is a European agency for the evaluation of medication. From 1995 to 2004, the European Medicines Agency was known as The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products....	EMEA	London London London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....	1995	* EC
Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market , or OHIM is the trademark and industrial designs registry for the single market of the European Union....	OHIM	Alicante Alicante Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacant?, in the southern part of the Valencian Community....	1999	* EC
Community Plant Variety Office Community Plant Variety Office The Community Plant Variety Office is an agencies of the European Union, located in Angers, France. It was established in 1994. Its task is to administer a system of plant breeders' rights, also known as plant breeders' rights, a form of intellectual property relating to plants....	CPVO	Angers Angers Angers is a city in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France in northwestern France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....	1994	* EC
Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union The Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union is an agency of the European Union. Established in 1994, the Translation Centre is located in Luxembourg City....	CdT	Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....	1994	* EC
European Agency for Reconstruction European Agency for Reconstruction The European Agency for Reconstruction manages on behalf of the European Commission the European Union's main assistance programmes in the Republic of Serbia, Kosovo , Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia....	EAR	Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Thessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country in Greece and the capital of Macedonia , the nation's largest Regions of Greece....	2000	* EC
European Food Safety Authority European Food Safety Authority The European Food Safety Authority is an agency of the European Union that provides independent scientific advice and communication on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain....	EFSA	Parma Parma Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its architecture and the fine countryside around it. It is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....	2002	* EC
European Maritime Safety Agency European Maritime Safety Agency The European Maritime Safety Agency is a Agencies of the European Union charged with reducing the risk of Shipwreck, marine pollution from ships and the Search and rescue by helping to enforce the pertinent European Community legislation....	EMSA	Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the Lisbon and capital of the Lisbon region. Its municipalities of Portugal, which matches the city proper excluding the larger continuous conurbation, has a municipal population of 564,477 in , while the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in total has around 2.8 million inha...	2002	* EC
European Aviation Safety Agency European Aviation Safety Agency European Aviation Safety Agency is an agency of the European Union with offices in Cologne, Germany, which has been given specific regulatory and executive tasks in the field of civilian aviation safety....	EASA	Cologne Cologne Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants....	2003	* EC
European Network and Information Security Agency European Network and Information Security Agency The European Network and Information Security Agency is an agency of the European Union.ENISA was created in 2004 by EU and is fully operational since September 1st, 2005....	ENISA	Heraklion Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion , is the largest city and capital city of Crete. It is also the fourth largest city in Greece. Its name is also spelled Herakleion, a transliteration of the ancient Greek and Katharevousa name, , or Iraklio, among other variants....	2005	* EC
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Recently established as an independent agency of the European Union , the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is taking up growing responsibilities in strengthening Europe?s defences against infectious diseases....	ECDC	Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish Government of Sweden, the Parliament of Sweden, and the official residence of the Swedish Monarchy of Sweden....	2005	* EC
European Global Navigation Satellite System Supervisory Authority European Global Navigation Satellite System Supervisory Authority The European GNSS Supervisory Authority is an agency of the European Union based in Brussels, Belgium. The body was set up in 2004.Its objective is to ensure that essential public interests are properly defended and represented in connection with European Union's satellite navigation programmes ....	GSA	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....	2004	* EC
European Railway Agency European Railway Agency The European Railway Agency is one of the agencies of the European Union. The decision to set up the agency was made in April 2004. The agency has two main sites, both in Nord Department, France....	ERA	Valenciennes Valenciennes Valenciennes is a Communes of France in the Nord Departments of France in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded.... /Lille Lille Lille is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Urban Community of Lille M?tropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille....	2004	* EC
European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union Frontex Frontex is the Agencies of the European Union for external border security. It is responsible for co-ordinating the activities of the national border guards in ensuring the security of the Countries bordering the European Union with non-member states....	Frontex	Warsaw Warsaw Warsaw is the Capital and World's largest cities of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains....	2005	* EC
Community Fisheries Control Agency Community Fisheries Control Agency The Community Fisheries Control Agency is an Agencies of the European Union of the European Union based in Vigo, Spain. Its goals are to co-ordinate the operational activities of Member States in the area of fisheries, and provide assistance to the Member States in their application of the CFP....	CFCA	Vigo Vigo Vigo is a city in Galicia , Spain, located in the province of Pontevedra . Vigo is the largest city in Spain which is not a provincial capital. It is known as The Olive City....	2005	* EC
European Chemicals Agency European Chemicals Agency The European Chemicals Agency is an Agencies of the European Union which manages the technical, scientific and administrative aspects of the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals system....	ECHA	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the Capital and largest List of cities and towns in Finland of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea....	2007	* EC
European Institute for Gender Equality European Institute for Gender Equality The European Institute for Gender Equality is a Vilnius-based Agencies of the European Union inaugurated on 2007. It was established by European Union regulation No 1922/2006 of 20 December 2006....	?	Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius is the largest city and the Capital of Lithuania, with a population of 555,613 as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality....	2007	* EC
European Fundamental Rights Agency European Fundamental Rights Agency The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights is a Vienna-based Agencies of the European Union inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by European Union regulation No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007 as the successor to the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia ....	FRA	Vienna Vienna Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...	2007	* EC
European Defence Agency European Defence Agency The European Defence Agency is an Agencies of the European Union based in Brussels. It is a Common Foreign and Security Policy body set up on 12 July 2004, reporting to the Council of the European Union....	EDA	Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....	2004	- CFSP
European Institute for Security Studies	ISS	Paris Paris Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....	2001	- CFSP
European Union Satellite Centre European Union Satellite Centre The European Union Satellite Centre is an Agency of the Council of the European Union which gathers information through satellite images to help the EU prevent conflicts and provide humanitarian aid....	EUSC	Torrejón de Ardoz Torrejón de Ardoz Torrej?n de Ardoz is a town in the urban area of Madrid, and has about 110,000 inhabitants.It is a town 20 km east of Madrid on the NII highway ....	2002	- CFSP
European Police College European Police College CEPOL - European Police College was established as an agency of the European Union in 2005 . CEPOL brings together senior police officers across Europe with the aim to encourage cross-border cooperation in the fight against crime, maintenance of public security and law and order....	CEPOL	Bramshill	2001	x PJC
European Police Office	Europol	The Hague The Hague The Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 475,904 and an area of approximately 100 km?....	1999	x PJC
European body for the enhancement of judicial co-operation Eurojust Eurojust is an Agencies of the European Union European Union dealing with judicial co-operation.It is composed of national prosecutors, magistrates or police officers of equivalent competence from each of the European Union member state....	Eurojust	The Hague	2002	x PJC

Executive agencies

Executive agencies are created by European Commission for a fixed period.

Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI) - located in Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency

The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency is an Agencies of the European Union, established on 1 January 2006 to manage parts of the Union's programs in education, culture and audiovisual fields....
(EACEA) - located in Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
Executive Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC) - located in Luxembourg
Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany....
Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-TEA) - located in Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
Reasearch Executive Agency (REA) - located in Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
European Research Council Executive Agency (ERC) - located in Brussels
Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....

Proposed agencies

European Telecom Market Authority
European Telecom Market Authority

The European Telecom Market Authority is a proposed agency for the European Union. Although initially presented as having power to override national telecommunications regulators , it would in fact essentially act merely as a consultative body for the European Commission....
(ETMA?)

External links

The following links are all part of the official EU-website.

Agencies of the European Union

List

Executive agencies

Proposed agencies

See also

External links