1. Introduction

The Environmental Assessment Group is a new committee within the EUROTRAC structure, set up by the International Executive Committee (IEC) to ensure that full use is made of the scientific results obtained in the project to support of policy development. Formally the EAG is responsible for

2. Membership

The first thirteen members of the EAG were invited to serve following the initial meeting of the IEC and a further member was invited subsequently. Each of the principal agencies or organisations responsible for policy for combatting regional pollution in Europe together with several other experts and from North America. are represented. A list of members is given in the appendix.

Professor Anton Eliassen was elected as Chairman and Professor Carlos Borrego as Vice-Chairman at the first meeting of the EAG.

3. Meetings

The EAG has held three meetings in the period.

4. Policy applications of the scientific programme

In the first phase of EUROTRAC the task of assimilating the results and making them available to those involved in policy development was assigned to an Application project which was formed towards the end of the project. Although the approach was most successful, it was felt in the preparations for EUROTRAC-2 that the project would be better served if the policy orientation could be emphasised from the beginning and hence the EAG was formed. The EAG are dividing the overall task into three parts:

a. Policy-related tasks for EUROTRAC-2

To inform the subprojects and the principal investigators about the perceived scientific needs of the environmental agencies and organisations, the EAG have produced a substantial document listing desirable developments which would support directly their work in policy development. It details requirements in measurements, modelling, emissions and instrumentation. The document was circulated to all the principal investigators, published on the Newsletter and made available on the web page (http://www.gsf.de/eurotrac/eag-task.htm).

b. Exchange of information with subprojects and principal investigators

The EAG decided that the best way to obtain the desired exchange was to request the agencies to encourage their scientists to participate in the work of the subprojects and to request the subproject coordinators and steering groups to include, where possible, qualified scientists from the agencies as both members and principal investigators. Although everyone is keen in principle the amount of take up is small so far.

c. Assimilation of the scientific results

This is perhaps the most important task and can be expected to develop throughout the project. The EAG has requested that, when submitting their annual reports, principal investigators should draw the subproject coordinators' attention to results of potential interest in policy development. The subproject coordinators and steering groups have been asked to correlate all the suggestions within their subprojects and include a specific section on policy application in their annual report. These will be scrutinised carefully by the EAG.

In the longer term, the EAG will consider either producing or commissioning a report, assimilating the results from EUROTRAC-2, perhaps along the lines of the Application Project in the first phase.

5. Approval of new subprojects

An important activity during the first three meetings was to examine the proposals for the new subprojects and to advise the IEC and SSC on their potential utility in policy development. The proposals themselves were generally found to be of good quality and some of the work will produce results and understanding which is usable. Advice was given to the coordinators in some instances on ways to shape the proposal to emphasise the applicability.

6. External co-operation

a. North American Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO)

The EAG is fortunate to have among its members the Management Coordinator for NARSTO, the North American programme which has similar aims to EUROTRAC-2. The information provided and advice given has been most helpful since the experience gained in North America can be useful in determining the best strategies to adopt in Europe and vice versa. The Executive Secretary performs a similar function in the other direction.

b. Developments within the agencies

The EAG needs to be properly informed about the developments within the agencies. At each meeting a brief report is made by each member present and, in addition, one member is requested to present the work of his agency in more detail. Presentations have been made by Dr. Jake Hales on NARSTO and Mr. Martin Lutz on the work of the European Commission (DG-XI). A presentation on the European Environmental Agency Topic Centre on Air Quality is planned for the next meeting.

7. Miscellaneous items

a. Documents

The EAG produced a document entitled "Policy-related tasks for EUROTRAC-2" which was circulated, published in the Newsletter and made available on the web page (http://www.gsf.de/eurotrac/eag-task.htm).

b. Symposium '98

The EAG were actively involved in ensuring that the programme was oriented towards applications to policy development. Three members were involved in presentations (Amann, Hales and Lutz), one was a session chairman (Eliassen) and presentations were also given by both the Eastern and Western Synthesising Centres of EMEP (Dr. Alexy Ryashapko, Dr. David Simpson).

8. Future activities

The principal activities in the coming period will be to pursue the tasks outlined in section 4 above: to ensure that there is a real exchange between the agencies and the scientific community and to decide how best to assimilate the scientific results from the project.

9. Acknowledgements and thanks

The EAG would like to thank the subproject coordinators, steering groups and principal investigators for their willingness to consider the suggestions of the committee. The EAG hope that there will be a more vigorous contact as the project develops.