Agencies of the European Union

The agencies of the European Union are bodies which are distinct from the European Union's institutions, in that they have not been created by the treaties but rather by acts of secondary legislation, in order to accomplish a very specific task.

Unlike most of the European Union's institutions established in the treaties, each of these agencies has its own legal personality.

There are currently sixteen European Community agencies.

• European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) – located in Thessaloniki
• European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) – located in Dublin
• European Environment Agency (EEA) – located in Copenhagen
• European Training Foundation (ETF) – located in Turin
• European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) – located in Lisbon
• European Medicines Agency (EMEA) – located in London
• Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM) – located in Alicante
• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) – located in Bilbao
• Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) – located in Angers
• Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) – located in Luxembourg
• European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) – located in Vienna
• European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) – located in Thessaloniki
• European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) – located in Parma
• European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) – located in Lisbon
• European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) – located in Cologne
• European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) – located in Heraklion

Under the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy pillar two agencies have also been set up, both becoming operational in 2002:

• European Institute for Security Studies (ISS) – located in Paris
• European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) – located in Torrejón de Ardoz in Spain

Under the framework of the third pillar (Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters), two agencies have been set up to help in the fight against organised crime.

• Europol (European Police Office) — located in The Hague
• Eurojust (European body for the enhancement of judicial co-operation) — located in The Hague