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. Most agencies were categorised under the three pillars of the European Union, but this structure was abolished with the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty.
| Official name |
Abbreviation |
Location |
Member state |
Established |
Members and observers |
| European Agency for Safety and Health at Work |
EU-OSHA |
Bilbao |
Spain |
1996 |
members: EU states, European Commission[1] |
| European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training |
Cedefop |
Thessaloniki |
Greece |
1975 |
members: EU states
observers: Iceland, Norway[2] |
| European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions |
EUROFOUND |
Dublin |
Ireland |
1975 |
members: EU states, European Commission
observers:EFTA[3] |
| European Environment Agency |
EEA |
Copenhagen |
Denmark |
1994 |
members: EU states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey[4]
co-operating: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia |
| European Training Foundation |
ETF |
Turin |
Italy |
1994 |
members: EU states, European Commission[5] |
| European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction |
EMCDDA |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
1993 |
members: EU states, European Commission, European Parliament, Norway
observers: Turkey[6] |
| European Medicines Agency |
EMA |
London |
United Kingdom |
1995 |
members: EU states, European Commission, European Parliament
observers: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway[7] |
| Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market |
OHIM |
Alicante |
Spain |
1999 |
members: EU states, European Commission[8] |
| Community Plant Variety Office |
CPVO |
Angers |
France |
1994 |
members: EU states, European Commission[9] |
| Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union |
CdT |
Luxembourg |
Luxembourg |
1994 |
members: EU states, European Commission[10] |
| European Food Safety Authority |
EFSA |
Parma |
Italy |
2002 |
|
| European Maritime Safety Agency |
EMSA |
Lisbon |
Portugal |
2002 |
members: EU states, European Commission, Iceland, Norway[11] |
| European Aviation Safety Agency |
EASA |
Cologne |
Germany |
2003 |
members: EU states, European Commission, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland[12]
observers: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, UNMIK[13] |
| European Network and Information Security Agency |
ENISA |
Heraklion |
Greece |
2005 |
members: EU states[14] |
| European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control |
ECDC |
Stockholm |
Sweden |
2005 |
members: EU states, European Commission, European Parliament
observers: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway[15] |
| European GNSS Agency |
GSA |
Brussels |
Belgium |
2004 |
members: EU states, European Commission
observers: Norway, European Space Agency[16] |
| European Railway Agency |
ERA |
Valenciennes and Lille |
France |
2004 |
members: EU states, European Commission, Norway[17] |
| European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union |
Frontex |
Warsaw |
Poland |
2005 |
|
| Community Fisheries Control Agency |
CFCA |
Vigo |
Spain |
2005 |
members: EU states, European Commission[18] |
| European Chemicals Agency |
ECHA |
Helsinki |
Finland |
2007 |
members: EU states, European Commission, European Parliament
observers: Iceland, Norway[19] |
| European Institute for Gender Equality |
EIGE |
Vilnius |
Lithuania |
2007 |
members: EU states[20] |
| European Defence Agency |
EDA |
Brussels |
Belgium |
2004 |
members: EU states without Denmark; European Commission
participant: Norway |
| European Institute for Security Studies |
ISS |
Paris |
France |
2001 |
|
| European Union Satellite Centre |
EUSC |
Torrejón de Ardoz |
Spain |
2002 |
|
| European Police College |
CEPOL |
Bramshill |
United Kingdom |
2001 |
members: EU states
associates: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland[21] |
| European Police Office |
Europol |
The Hague |
The Netherlands |
1999 |
|
| European body for the enhancement of judicial co-operation |
Eurojust |
The Hague |
The Netherlands |
2002 |
|
| Fundamental Rights Agency |
FRA |
Vienna |
Austria |
2007 |
members: EU states, European Commission, Council of Europe[22] |
| European Systemic Risk Board |
ESRB |
Frankfurt |
Germany |
2010 |
[23] |
| European Banking Authority |
EBA |
London |
United Kingdom |
2011 |
[24] |
| European Security and Market Authority |
ESMA |
Paris |
France |
2011 |
[25] |
| European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority |
EIOPA |
Frankfurt |
Germany |
2011 |
[26] |
| Official name |
Abbreviation |
Location |
Member state |
Established |
Members and observers |
| Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications |
BEREC |
Riga |
Latvia |
2010 |
members: EU states, European Commission[27] |
| Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators |
ACER |
Ljubljana |
Slovenia |
2011 |
|
| European Space Agency[28] |
ESA |
Paris |
France |
2014[29] |
members: EU states without Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia; plus Norway and Switzerland
associates: Canada |
| European Asylum Support Office |
EASO |
Valletta Harbour |
Malta |
2011[30] |
|
| European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice[31] |
|
Tallinn[32] |
Estonia |
2012 |
|
Executive agencies are created by European Commission for a fixed period.
The following links are all part of the official EU-website.