The European Environmental Bureau is a network of over 143 environmental citizens' organisations based in more than 30 countries. These organisations range from local and national, to European and international. EEB's aim is to protect and improve Europe's environment and to enable Europe's citizens to play a part in achieving that goal. A key element of this process is promoting the EU's 'Green Leadership'. The EEB is a democratic federation speaking on behalf of millions of EU citizens, which plays a prominent role in defending and promoting the environmental interests and legislation at the different EU institutions.
Organisation
Before the first environmental Action Plan was adopted by the European Community, environmental NGOs from Europe met in the United Kingdom, together with the European Commission, the UNECE, the UNEP and the IUCN. During the meeting, it was surfaced the project of creating a federation of non-governmental organizations within the European Community, which later become an information clearinghouse for the EC countries. The EEB office was set up in Brussels in 1974 to provide a focal point for its members to monitor and respond to the EU's emerging environmental policy. EEB has an information service, runs working groups with its members, produces position papers on topics that are, or EEB feels should be, on the EU agenda, and represents its members in discussions with the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council. It closely coordinates EU-oriented activities with members at national level, and also closely follows the EU enlargement process and some pan-European issues such as follow-up to the Aarhus Convention. EEB has consultative status at and relations with: the Council of Europe, the Commission of the European Union, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee of the European Union, the OECD, the United Nation Commission on Sustainable Development. It has a membership of 143 member organisations in more than 30 countries: non-governmental organizations, dealing with environmental issues and nature protection.
Role in the European Union
EEB has day-to-day working relationships with EU institutions including the European Commission, the European Parliament and Council of Ministers, and has routine contacts with the European Environmental Agency and other EU institutions and bodies, Member States' Permanent Representatives and national ministries. It also has consultative status at the Council of Europe and the United Nations and plays an important role in the environmental Non-governmental Organisation community in promoting implementation of the Aarhus Convention both within and outside the EU. In 1998, the EEB led the issue group on public participation of the pan-European coalition on environmental citizens' organizations, later named as European ECO Forum, which was closely involved in the negotiating phase of the UNECE Aarhus Convention. At 2013, it was considered as one of the seven core environmental organizations in Europe, together with Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace International, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Climate Network Europe, the European Federation for Transport and Environment, and BirdLife International. EU political institutions had a large role in the formation and maintenance of Brussel-based umbrella- and federation type groups representing the EU civil society, through direct funding relationships from the Union budget, and by virtue of an early preference of the Commission for engaging only with EU level groups.
A wide member network
Environmental organisations in candidate countries and, increasingly, in the Western Balkans, regard the EEB as their main partner with a European focus. EEB's experience, relationships and position are of great value to these states in determining their own role in processes related to EU enlargement and the environment. Owing to the EEB's proactive involvement, its members from New Member States and those aspiring to join the EU are already numerous and are increasing.
Member organisations
Campaigns
In November 2004, working with the Ban Mercury Working Group, EEB launched the Zero Mercury campaign, whose ultimate goal is to achieve zero emissions, demand and supply of mercury, from all sources we can control, to reduce global environmental mercury levels to a minimum. An international Zero Mercury Working Group was created to follow up developments at European and global level. Since the beginning of 2011, EEB has been coordinating the Coolproducts campaign aiming at unleashing the energy savings potential of energy-related products.
