Eionet core data flows 2020

Briefing

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Eionet core data flows 2021

Eionet core data flows 2020

Briefing Published 15 Jul 2021 Last modified 11 Jul 2022

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Photo: © Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

The European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) is a partnership network of the EEA and its member and cooperating countries. This briefing presents the results of data collected in 2020 for 11 Eionet core data flows. It summarises the evaluation of hundreds of data deliveries received from reporting countries. The purpose of the briefing is to show progress against agreed reporting criteria (timeliness and data quality) in order to allow countries to identify and prioritise the resources they need for regular reporting procedures. The provision of high-quality data by Eionet is fundamental for the EEA to achieve its mission to provide timely, targeted, relevant and reliable information to policy-making agents and the public.

Key messages

Four countries managed to achieve a data flow score of 100%: Austria, North Macedonia, Sweden and Switzerland (Figure 1). The score of 100% indicates the provision of timely and high-quality data across all covered data flows.
In addition, thirteen countries managed to achieve a final score at or above 90%. These countries are (in order of rank): Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Croatia, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, France, Ireland, Spain and Slovakia.
One of the key performance indicators in the EEA’s Multi-Annual Work Programme 2014-2020 is to achieve an average data flow score of at least 90%. This target has again been achieved, as the overall reporting performance of countries is at 91 % for the EU-27 plus the United Kingdom and 89% for all EEA and cooperating countries (see Table 1).

The annual evaluation of deliveries under the Eionet core data flows is a continuation of the earlier reporting on Eionet priority data flows, for which annual reports have been published by the EEA since 2005 ^[1]. The scoring of countries’ reporting performance on the basis of key data flows is considered to be an important driver contributing to improved reporting. The annual process conducted by the EEA and Eionet is an evaluation of data deliveries at the technical level, which is performed independently of other data flow monitoring activities that may exist, e.g. those carried out by the European Commission for compliance reasons.

Figure 1. Overall data reporting performance of countries in 2020

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Table 1. History of data reporting performance

Note: N/A: Not applicable
Note: This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
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Table 1. shows the reporting performance (in %) since 2005. A score of 100% indicates timely and high-quality data deliveries across all covered data flows. For each data flow, a score from 0 to 4 points is given according to the timeliness and quality of the delivered data. The scores from all data flows are summed for each country and expressed as a percentage of the maximum achievable score. More details on the scoring and the rules applied are available from the Eionet website^[2].

In 2015, no evaluation of deliveries was made because of the review of core data flows. Although the review led to changes in the list of data flows, the recent results remain largely comparable with those from earlier years, as overall evaluation principles have not been changed.

Background to Eionet core data flows

Eionet data flow monitoring and progress reporting began in 1999 with an initial geographical coverage of the original 18 EEA member countries and a thematic scope of nine priority data flows. Since then, the list of data flows has expanded to 13 and the number of countries has grown to 39, as all 38 EEA member countries plus the United Kingdom as well as the six cooperating Western Balkan countries are now covered by the data flow reporting.

During 2015, a review of data flow reporting was done in response to a need to realign the existing set of data flows with EEA priorities, i.e. the needs deriving from the EEA’s Multi-Annual Work Programme (MAWP) 2014-2020. During the review process, the following definition was established: ‘Eionet core data flows: a subset of existing key data flows reported by EEA member and cooperating countries agreed by the Management Board using the Reportnet tools and which are used by the EEA for its main assessments, products and services’.

In November 2015, a set of 18 Eionet core data flows that provides a better reflection of the importance of data flows for the EEA’s assessment activities was adopted by the EEA Management Board. This briefing summarises the evaluation of 11 core data flows in the following areas:

Air quality

Air emissions

CLRTAP: Air emission annual data reporting

Biodiversity

CDDA: Nationally designated areas

Climate change mitigation

GHG: Greenhouse gas inventories

Industrial pollution

E-PRTR and LCP integrated data reporting

Water

Notes

[1] https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications#c14=Eionetprioritydataflows

[2] http://www.eionet.europa.eu/dataflows/2020

Identifiers

Briefing no. 05/2021
Title: Eionet core data flows 2020
HTML - TH-AM-21-005-EN-Q - ISBN 978-92-9480-378-8 - ISSN 2467-3196 - doi: 10.2800/096162
PDF - TH-AM-21-005-EN-N - ISBN 978-92-9480-379-5 - ISSN 2467-3196 - doi: 10.2800/988014

Disclaimer

The country assessments are the sole responsibility of the EEA member and cooperating countries supported by the EEA through guidance, translation and editing.

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Geographic coverage

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden

Temporal coverage

2020

For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eionet-core-data-flows-2020/eionet-core-data-flows-2020 or scan the QR code.

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