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The agencies of the European Union (formally: Agencies, decentralised independent bodies, corporate bodies and joint undertakings of the European Union and the Euratom) are bodies of the European Union and the Euratom established as juridical persons through secondary EU legislation and tasked with a specific narrow field of work.[1]
They are distinct from:
In contrast to other EU bodies established through secondary legislation, each of more than fifty such entities has its own juridical personality granted by the EU law, recognised across the EU, and in some cases, also across the EEA countries, Switzerland, Serbia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Turkey. Nevertheless, in relations with other non-EU third countries, they are in general not recognised as independent entities, thus being considered either parts of the juridical personality of the EU or the Euratom.[2]
Some of the agencies, decentralised independent bodies and joint undertakings of the European Union and the Euratom are tasked with answering 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.
They are divided into the following groups:[3]
Distinct from the EU institutions, the agencies of the European Union are specialist bodies set up to advise the Institutions and Member States in areas that affect everyone living in the Union.[4] They are located in member states across the EU, providing services, information, and know-how. The total budget of all the decentralised agencies is approximately 0.8% of the EU's annual budget.[5]
Single market agencies (under the former I Pillar)
Common Security and Defence Policy agencies (under the former II Pillar)
Official name | Abbreviation | Location | Member state | Est. | Members and observers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
European Defence Agency | EDA | Brussels | ![]() |
2004 | members: EU states;[30] European Commission participant: Norway |
European Institute for Security Studies | EUISS | Paris | ![]() |
2001 | |
European Union Satellite Centre | SatCen | Torrejón de Ardoz | ![]() |
2002 |
Area of freedom, security and justice agencies (under the former III Pillar)
European supervisory authorities (of the European System of Financial Supervision)
Official name | Abbreviation | Location | Member state | Est. | Members and observers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
European Banking Authority | EBA | Paris (since 2019) | ![]() (UK till 2019)[a] |
2011 | [41] |
European Securities and Markets Authority | ESMA | Paris | ![]() |
2011 | [42] |
European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority | EIOPA | Frankfurt | ![]() |
2011 | [43] |
Single Resolution Mechanism bodies (of the European banking union)
Official name | Abbreviation | Location | Member state | Est. | Members and observers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Single Resolution Board | SRB | Brussels | ![]() |
2015 | Eurozone countries, Bulgaria |
Executive agencies are created by European Commission for a fixed period.
Official name | Abbreviation | Location |
---|---|---|
European Cybersecurity Competence Centre | ECCC | Bucharest[44] |
European Innovation Council and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Executive Agency | EISMEA | Brussels |
Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency | EACEA | Brussels |
European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency | CINEA | Brussels |
Research Executive Agency | REA | Brussels |
European Research Council Executive Agency | ERCEA | Brussels |
European Health and Digital Executive Agency | HaDEA | Brussels |
Official name | Abbreviation | Location |
---|---|---|
Euratom Supply Agency | ESA | Luxembourg City |
Thé list includes the two decentralised bodies other than agencies, established as EU juridical persons through secondary legislation of the EU/Euratom.
Official name | Abbreviation | Location | Member state | Members and associates |
---|---|---|---|---|
European Institute of Innovation and Technology | EIT | Budapest | ![]() |
Members: EEA countries, Switzerland; associates: the United Kingdom |
European Public Prosecutor's Office | EPPO | Luxembourg City[45][46] | ![]() |
members: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain |
The list includes the remaining two bodies other than agencies, decentralised bodies or joint undertakings, established as EU juridical persons through secondary legislation of the EU/Euratom.
Official name | Abbreviation | Location | Member state | Est. |
---|---|---|---|---|
European Data Protection Board | EDPB | Brussels | Belgium | 2018 |
Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations | APPF | Brussels[47] | Belgium | 2014 |
A joint undertaking is a juridical person and a subsidiary body of the EU or the Euratom, established through an agreement between the European Commission, the participating member states, and the European industry of a certain field, with the purpose of implementing a public-private partnership project.
Official name | Abbreviation |
---|---|
Bio-based Industries | BBI |
Clean Sky | CS |
Electronic Components and Systems | ECSEL |
Fuel Cells and Hydrogen | FCH |
High-Performance Computing | EuroHPC |
Innovative Medicines Initiative | IMI |
Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research | SESAR |
Shift-2-Rail | S2R |
Official name | Abbreviation |
---|---|
Fusion for Energy | F4E |
Joint European Torus | JET |
Name | Abbreviation | Fate |
---|---|---|
Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority[48] | HERA | eventually established as DG HERA instead |
Official name | Abbreviation | Location | Member state | Established | Abolished | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia | EUMC | ![]() |
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1997 | 2007 | Transformed into FRA |
European Agency for Reconstruction | EAR | ![]() |
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2000 | 2008 | Dissolved; tasks assigned to DG NEAR and IPA |
Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency | Chafea | Luxembourg City | ![]() |
2005 | 2015 | Dissolved; tasks assigned to DG SANTE and to HaDEA |
European GNSS Supervisory Authority | GSA | undef. | undef. | 2004 | 2010 | Transformed into the second GSA |
European GNSS Agency | GSA | Prague | ![]() |
2010 | 2021 | Transformed into EUSPA |
European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union | Frontex | ![]() |
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2005 | 2016 | Transformed into current Frontex |