[en] The present English summary of the fifth state of the environment report gives once again a picture of the situation of the environment in Austria. It emphasizes the areas of the Austrian environmental policy where significant improvements were achieved, such as the reduction of air pollutant emissions and the improvement of the quality of running waters. It also mentions problem areas such as transport, climate protection and renewable energy, where new solutions will have to be found within the framework of the Austrian and European environmental policies and already agreed upon strategies will have to be translated into daily practice. As in the past, this state of the environment report was written by experts of the Federal Environment Agency, whose work has always been valued by all political parties represented in the National Assembly as a well-documented technical basis for the political discussion of environmental issues in Austria. In this context it should be mentioned that in the process of a slimming federal administration the Federal Environment Agency, hitherto an agency subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Youth and Family Affairs, acquired independent status in the form of a limited company. The new Environmental Control Act guarantees that the Federal Environment Agency under its new status will be able to continue its work with the usual efficiency in the future. (author)