Autonomous Agencies of the European Union as Non-State Actors

Agencies of the European Union (EU) have become pervasive features of the Union’s administrative space. In 2010 31 EU agencies existed. These have a wide variety of tasks, including the authorization of medicinal products, the collection and analysis of information on the European environment, the prevention and control of communicable diseases, the improvement of the Union’s defence capabilities and the coordination of the management of the EU’s external borders. They employ over 4,000 people, spend more than one billion Euros per year and are located across the Union.