Workshops under EU4Green Recovery East advance cooperation with the European Environment Agency and Eionet 

Moldova and Ukraine took part in national online workshops on 13 January 2026 (Moldova) and 20 January 2026 (Ukraine) to strengthen environmental data collection and reporting. Organised under the EU4Green Recovery East (EU4GRE) programme, the workshops brought together representatives from ministries, environmental agencies, and statistical offices to improve coordination and data quality across institutions.  

What are EEA and Eionet? 

Reliable environmental data are essential to integrate environmental considerations into policies. The workshops focused on strengthening cooperation between data producers and ensuring sustainable data flows and quality assurance at national level. 

These workshops support the development of a national Eionet—the European Environment Information and Observation Network. Eionet is a partnership between countries and the European Environment Agency (EEA), an EU agency that provides independent environmental information to support decision-making. Eionet links thousands of experts across Europe to collect, quality-check, and share environmental data. Through Eionet, national institutions contribute environmental data that feed into European policies.  

Different starting points, tailored support 

While Ukraine is already actively working towards establishing a national Eionet structure, Moldova is at an earlier stage, with previous cooperation largely based on ad hoc, project-based arrangements. The EU4Green Recovery East activities aim to support both countries according to their specific needs and levels of preparedness. 

Experiences from Austria, as an EU Member State with an Eionet structure anchored in law, and Kosovo, as an EEA-Eionet cooperating country, illustrated how national Einoet structures are organised and maintained in practice. Participants gained a shared understanding of next steps and how national experts typically contribute to EEA activities. 

Both countries now have a clearer roadmap for strengthening their national environmental information systems and contributing to Europe-wide environmental reporting, marking a key step in fulfilling their future EU reporting obligations.