The Agencies of the European Union have been established by individual legal acts (secondary legislation) in order to perform certain tasks under EU law. They are legally separate entities from the EU institutions. Their locations are spread across the EU Member States.

A special position is taken by Executive Agencies established under Council Regulation 58/2003. They are set up by the European Commission to support the EU programs on a limited period. There are currently 6 agencies, five of them in Brussels and one in Luxembourg.