ETC/ATNI Report 2019/5: E-PRTR data review methodology. Update 2019.

According to Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 concerning the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register operators that undertake one or more activities specified in Annex I of the E-PRTR Regulation above the capacity threshold have to report their releases to air, water, land, off-site transfers of waste and of pollutants in waste water if these releases and transfers exceed the threshold values specified in Annex II of the Regulation. Member States are obliged to submit this data to the European Commission. EEA Member Countries have committed themselves to report in line with the Member States. 2007 was the first year for which data was reported. E-PRTR is an annual reporting obligation. The register includes data from the EU-28 plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Serbia and Switzerland.
The EEA has been carrying out an annual data review of E-PRTR data since 2009. Different European topic centers have been involved in this exercise (ETC/ATNI, ETC/ACM, ETC/ICM). The review consists of a series of checks. These checks focus on the internal consistency of the reported E-PRTR data and on verifying consistency with other reporting obligations.
In 2017 a restructuring of the review process and feedback to the countries on questionable data issues took place. It lead to more intensified and automated communication with the countries. The most urgent and relevant findings of the checks are selected and provided to countries in the form of a country-specific Excel file. Countries are expected to indicate whether or not a finding is of relevance, and how it will be addressed or if it needs to be investigated further. EEA registers and keeps track of these country responses, aiming to avoid repetitive feedback to countries on issues that have already been resolved previously.
The purpose of this methodology report is to describe the methodology of the checks used in the E-PRTR data review and the methodology for selecting/prioritizing findings for feedback to countries.