2. Work Programme

2. WORK PROGRAMME

2.1. Tasks, Clients and the User Needs

Tasks of the EEA are:

• "to establish, in co-operation with the Member States, and co-ordinate the European environment information and observation network (EIONET). In this context the EEA shall be responsible for the collection, processing and analysis of data, in particular in the fields of e.g. air quality and air emissions";

• "to provide the Community and Member States with objective information necessary for framing and implementing sound and effective environmental policies";

• "to record, collate and assess data on the state of the environment, to draw up expert reports on the quality, sensitivity and pressures on the environment".

Summarised it can be stated that the objective of the ETC is to provide the EEA and its clients with all necessary information on air emissions to support the main tasks of the EEA. The main clients of the EEA and therefore also of the ETC are the European Commission (DG-XI) and the national governments.

Tasks of the Topic Centre are described within two projects from the EEA work programme (SA1 and SA2) and were identified by the Agency to be undertaken by the ETC/AE during 1995 to 1997. While the project SA1 was completed in early 1996, the project SA2 is to be finalised by the end of the year 1997. The project titles are outlined as follows:

SA1: Air emissions - General Approach and Assessment
SA2: Air Emissions Inventories 1990 and 1994/95

These projects aim to compile air emission inventories (1990 to 1995 and subsequently) and to provide assessment reports. Inventories are needed to contribute to the assessment of problems, sectors and areas for themes such as acidification, tropospheric ozone, climate change and air quality. Assessments will follow the DPSIR approach of environmental themes (Driving forces, Pressures, States, Impacts and political Responses).. Clients require information on all aspects of this causal chain. For the air pollution issues this means information on

• main economic sectors and human activities causing air pollution,

• air emissions from all known and located sources,

• air quality at relevant scales, physical, chemical and biological,

• impacts on ecosystems, human health and functions (materials, food

• production etc.),

• evaluation of possible and prioritised abatement options and the cost and benefit of such options with regard to environmental targets.

ETC/AE will mainly deliver the required information on air emissions (pressures) related to the main economic sectors (industry, energy, transport, agriculture and households). The ETC/AE will contribute to assessment in several ways, firstly by producing a key report in 1997 "Air Pollution in Europe" together with the ETC on Air Quality and by means of the activities related to urban air quality (urban inventories). Secondly the ETC will in 1997 collate, analyse data and write the chapter on "Climate change" for the pan-European environment assessment, the „Dobris+3 Report". Thirdly, some results of both reports will be fed into the report „EU State of the Environment" SoER due to be published by the end of 1998.

2.2. Project SA1 - General Approach and Assessment

The main objective was to analyse the situation regarding air emissions inventories at different levels and Europe-wide. The result of this project was laid down in the Annual Summary Report 1995, published in 1996. Subsequent reports have been produced by the ETC. They mainly contain data summaries, recommendations for the revised datasystem and the inventorying procedure. An overview of products is provided under item 5.

2.3. Project SA2 - Air Emissions Inventories 1990 and 1994/95

The main objectives are:

• Review, consolidate and adjust the CORINAIR methodology to contribute to the development of the common tools for integrated inventories

• Compile an emissions inventory for Europe for the year 1994 covering the eight pollutants that were covered by CORINAIR90 as well as heavy metals (HM), persistent organic pollutants (POP) and as far as possible other pollutants required under various international conventions and legislation.

The ETC carries out this tasks under both the 1996 and the subsequent subvention period. The work requires a very close collaboration with member states and other countries to get best available data from their national networks.

2.4. Relation to Other Projects

The ETC/AE works closely with the EEA and other ETCs, National Focal Points (NFP), National Reference Centres (NRC), DGXI and other DGs. In addition it works closely with EUROSTAT, UNECE/EMEP, JRC, IPCC/OECD/IEA and other international organisations which are responsible for or interested in methods on estimating air emissions and establishing and maintaining inventories and issues associated with this.

The air emissions projects are being co-ordinated and developed in conjunction with several other projects from the Agency’s Annual Workprogramme for 1997 (AWP97) such as projects on periodical reports on the state of the environment in Europe within programme area 2, on air quality within programme area 4, and on scenarios for environmental improvement, tools for prediction and analysis of trends within programme area 7.

Especially, the ETC will be asked to contribute to the development of inventories to land and soil (SS1+2) and of inventories on emissions to water within the programme area 5, "Source-oriented Monitoring and Assessment of Pressures".

With regard to integrated emission inventories it is proposed to identify and classify all possible sources of emissions to air, water and of the generation ofwaste. It seems to be logical to merge inventories for emissions to air (gaseous waste), emissions to water and possibly generation of solid waste in one inventory in the future provided that existing information on waste generation, collection, treatment and disposal at European level has been further improved and evaluated (a task of the new Topic Centre on Waste proposed for 1997). The ETC/AE expects to be fully involved in the development of an integrated emission inventory in 1997.