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1. The Commission, supported by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), without prejudice to their independence, shall monitor, assess and report on the progress of the Union and the Member States with regard to attaining the priority objectives set out in Article 2, on an annual basis, taking into consideration the enabling conditions laid down in Article 3 and the overall goal of achieving systemic change. The information that results from that monitoring, assessment and reporting shall be made publicly available and easily accessible.

2. The monitoring, assessment and reporting referred to in paragraph 1 shall aim to facilitate high-level strategic political communication. Following a consultation process with all relevant stakeholders, the Commission shall, by 2 May 2022, present a monitoring framework, based on a limited number of headline indicators, which include, where available, systemic indicators that address, inter alia, environmental-social and environmental-economic nexus. The list of headline indicators shall remain stable to ensure accountability. It shall, however, be updated to reflect the latest policy and indicator developments, where appropriate.

3. The monitoring and assessment referred to in paragraph 1 shall reflect the latest developments as regards the availability and relevance of data and indicators and shall build on data available in the Member States and at the Union level, in particular data and indicators produced by the EEA and the European Statistical System, with a view to minimising administrative burden. It shall be coherent with, and without prejudice to, other monitoring, reporting and governance frameworks and exercises covering environment and climate policy. It shall be based on a methodology that enables, where possible, measurement of distance to targets in relation to the priority objectives set out in Article 2 and selected headline indicators.

4. The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission shall take account of, and exchange views annually on, the assessment referred to in paragraph 1 as well as actions taken and possible future actions.

5. The EEA and the ECHA shall support the Commission to improve the availability and relevance of data, indicators and knowledge, in particular by carrying out the following:

(a) gathering, processing and reporting data and evidence with modern digital tools, whilst improving methodologies for data collection and treatment and for developing harmonised indicators;

(b) strengthening and providing support to basic research, mapping and monitoring;

(c) working towards closing the relevant monitoring data gaps, together with Member States and taking into account the need for systemic change;

(d) delivering policy-relevant and systemic analyses, and contributing to implementing policy objectives at Union and national level, including by proposing recommendations to enhance the progress to attain the objectives;

(e) integrating data on environmental, health, social and economic impacts, and exploiting fully other available data and services, such as those delivered by Copernicus;

(f) contributing to closing critical knowledge gaps on ecological tipping points, while taking into account geographical and ecological differences across regions;

(g) developing quantitative and qualitative tools, including foresight and models, which could provide, inter alia, information on potential future system-wide impacts of policies related to environment and climate and on ‘distance to targets’;

(h) further improving availability and interoperability of, and access to, data through Union programmes;

(i) ensuring transparency and accountability.

6. The Commission shall regularly examine data and knowledge needs at Union and national level, including the capacity of the EEA and the ECHA as well as of other European bodies and agencies, where relevant, to carry out the tasks referred to in paragraph 5.