The aim of the European Environment Agency to arrive at the required harmonisation of state of the environment reporting is not to issue strict guidelines, but to work together with the member countries to develop common frameworks. An important instrument in this process is a group of national experts in SOE reporting established by the EEA. This group, called the ‘EEA Expert Group on Guidelines and Reporting’ (SOE Expert Group), helps the Agency to identify common requirements to develop products. Overviews of current practices and meetings to discuss the issues concerned are stepping stones to common frameworks and ‘guidelines’. The group consists of experts from the 18 EEA member countries and from the 13 countries participating in the PHARE programme. 

The intention of this checklist is thus to support a greater harmonisation of environmental information through the development and encouragement of common approaches, practices and terminology. The report first lists the condensed checklist, and thereafter an annotated version of the checklist.