Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) allowing voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme
Date: 1998-10-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: environmental law, environmental monitoring, environmental protection, industrial policy

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 30.10.1998 
COM(1998)622  final 

98/0303  (SYN) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) 

ALLOWING VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY ORGANISATIONS IN 
A COMMUNITY ECO-MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME 

(presented by the Commission) 

PROPOSAL FOR A 
COUNCIL REGULATION 
ALLOWING VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY ORGANISATIONS IN 
A COMMUNITY ECO-MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME 

Explanatory Memorandum 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

2.  REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMAS REGULATION 

3.  OBJECTIVES OF THE REVISION 

4.  MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

5.  SUBSIDIARITY. 

6.  POSITION OF STAKEHOLDERS 

7.  ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT 

8. 

IMPACT ONSMES.....: 

» 

9.  PROMOTION 

10.  CONCLUSIONS 

11.  CONTENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Attachment 1 : Position of stakeholders 

5 

3 

12 

12 

13 

14 

14 

16 

17 

19 

19 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

On  29  June  1993,  the  Council  adopted  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1836/93  allowing 
voluntary  participation  by  companies  in the  industrial  sector  in  a Community  eco-
management and audit scheme. This Regulation - known as the EMAS Regulation -
entered  into  force  on  13  July  1993  and  has  been  open  to  industrial  participation 
since April 1995. 

The role of EMAS in the context of sustainable development 

EMAS  represents  a direct  response  to  some  of  the  key  principles  embodied  in  the 
Fifth  Environmental Action Programme, in particular the concept of broadening  the 
range  of  instruments  and  of promoting  an  approach  of  shared  responsibility  in  the 
area of environmental protection. 

EMAS  is  part  of  the  overall  objective  to  promote  sustainable  production  and 
consumption  patterns  by  providing  a  framework  for  the  effective  management  of 
environmental  effects  and  for  the  promotion  of  continuous  improvements  in  the 
environmental performance  of industry. EMAS is a market-based  instrument  which 
provides  for  voluntary  participation.  This  means  that  rather  than  relying  on 
traditional  enforcement  measures  through  national  regulators  it  is  intended  to 
generate  peer  pressure  and  supply  chain  pressure  to  encourage  companies  to 
participate. However,  industrial  sites  participating  in  EMAS  must  comply  with  all 
the  requirements  of  the  EMAS  Regulation.  This  ensures  a  credible  and  rigorous 
approach to environmental management. 

EMAS reconciles both  economic  and  environmental  concerns by  allowing  industry 
to  set  its  own  environmental  objectives  as  a result  of  examining  its  environmental 
performance.  Industry  can thus  address  environmental  issues within the  framework 
of their economic considerations. 

the  qualities  of  credibility  and 

transparency.  The 
EMAS  also  embodies 
implementation  of EMAS  is independently  verified  by an accredited  environmental 
verifier.  This  verifier  also  checks  the  reliability  of the  data  and  information  in  the 
environmental  statement  which  is  used  by  industry  to  communicate  information 
about its environmental performance  to stakeholders and the public. 

EMAS thus represents  a new  approach to  environmental protection through the  use 
of market mechanisms  and  the  integration  of environmental  considerations  into  the 
core  of  company  management.  At  the  same  time  EMAS  is  complementary  to  the 
traditional command-and-control approach. 

Main  elements  ofEMAS 

The Regulation provides economic operators from the industrial sector with a tool to 
implement good environmental management practices. The objectives ofEMAS  are 

- 

to improve environmental  performance, 

- 

to demonstrate compliance with environmental  legislation, 

- 

to communicate environmental achievements to the public. 

Participation in EMAS requires the economic operator to 

-  define its environmental policy 

- 

review its environmental effects  and  performance 

-  establish  an  environmental  programme  and  an  environmental  management 

system 

-  conduct environmental  audits 

-  produce an environmental  statement. 

When  the  Scheme  was  conceived  it  was  thought  necessary  to  take-stock  of  its 
success, in particular  its effectiveness  as a voluntary market-based  instrument,  after 
a  given  period  of time. Thus, Article  20  of the  EMAS  Regulation  provides  for  the 
revision of the Regulation as follows 

"Not  more  than five years  after  the  entry  into force  of  this Regulation,  the 
Commission  shall  review  the  scheme  in  the  light  of  the  experience  gained 
during its operation and shall, if necessary, propose  to the Council the appro 
priate  amendments, particularly  concerning the scope  of the scheme  and  the 
possible  introduction of a logo. " 

This  review  has  provided  a  good  opportunity  to  identify  the  strengths  and 
weaknesses  of  EMAS  and  where  appropriate  to  improve  the  effectiveness  of  the 
Regulation. 

2.  REVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EMAS  REGULATION 

As part  of the review process of the EMAS Regulation,  the  Commission  has co-
funded  an  EU  study  which  provides  an  assessment  of  the  status  of  the 
implementation of the EMAS Regulation in the Member States1. 

Extensive  consultations  with  EMAS  stakeholders  have  also  been  carried  out, 
involving 

industry 

- 
-  managers of experimental applications of EMAS outside the industry sector 
-  accredited environmental verifiers 
-  accreditation bodies 
-  SMEs 
-  NGOs 
- 
trade unions 
-  competent bodies 
-  product experts 
-  participants ofthe project "Euromanagement-Environment'* of DGXXIirs 
-  Member States. 

The  review  process has  identified  the  areas  in  which  the  Regulation  needs  to be 
improved. 

•  Rigour and credibility of EMAS 

Within the EMAS Regulation, the rigour and credibility are ensured through the 
action ofthe  accreditation body and the competent body which are required to be 
established by Member States. 

-  The accreditation body 

The accreditation body is in charge of granting accreditation to environmental 
verifiers. Accreditation is the process by which the competence of a candidate 
verifier is assessed on the basis ofthe  général principles listed in Annex III of 
the  EMAS  Regulation  and  the  detailed  criteria  defined  by  the  accreditation 
body. It is key to the overall credibility of EMAS to ensure the competence of 
verifiers  at 
level. 
Accreditation  also  ensures  the  independence  of  the  verifiers.  There  is 
evidence1  that  accreditation  bodies  act rigorously, using  a  whole  range  of 
means to assess the candidate such as oral examination, witnessed assessments 
the  graph  below. 
and  analysis  of  documents  as 

legal  and  environmental  management 

illustrated 

technical, 

in 

l  An assessment ofthe  implementation status of Council Regulation No 1836/93 Eco-Management and 

Audit Scheme 28/02/1998-Imperial College Centre for Environmental Technology 

Means used by accreditation bodies when assessing the ability of candidates 
to become accredited verifiers 

CVs and competence of 
verifiers 

DAU checklist 

Quality management 
systenVprocedures 

Methodology of verification 

WltnCSSÔO flSflOStMTWf its 

Interviews with personnel 

Oral exam 

OrgarvsatJorVmanagernent 
structure 

Sftevteit/audit 

EACGuideNo.5 

Other 

76% 

• A ll  verifiers 

B  Individual verifiers 

O Organisation verifiers 

30% 

40% 

50% 

Percentage  of  Verifiers 

80% 

In  addition,  the  accreditation  bodies  ensure  the  continuing  competence  of 
accredited verifiers through regular supervision. 

-  The competent body 

The  competent  body  is  responsible  for  registering  sites  in  compliance  with 
EMAS  requirements.  The  competent  body however  is  not  simply  a passive 
registration organisation in EMAS. It has a role to play in ensuring that the site 
requesting registration complies with the EMAS requirements as well as with 
environmental  legislation,  through  contact  with  the  enforcement  authority. 
This active role is demonstrated by the fact that competent bodies from three 
Member States have refused  to register sites because of non-compliance with 
relevant  environmental  legislation2.  According  to  the  latest  information 
available to the Commission  17 sites have been refused  for this reason. This 
clearly illustrates that registration is not an automatic procedure. 

The practical  implementation  of  these requirements  of  the  EMAS  Regulation  by 
Member  States  has  generally  been  effective.  However,  their  effectiveness  could 
benefit  from  a  larger  dissemination  of  best  practice  and  from  consistency  in 
implementation in Member States. This is to be achieved by setting up a forum  of 
accreditation  bodies  and  a  forum  of  competent  bodies  in  order  to  provide  for  a 
common  understanding  and  application  of  the  requirements  of  the  Regulation. 
Articles 4 and 5 introduce these two fora in the new EMAS Regulation. 

2  See footnote  1. 

Scope of the EMAS Regulation 

EMAS is only available to sites in the industrial/manufacturing sector, although 
according  to  Article  14  of  the  EMAS  Regulation  Member  States  can  apply 
provisions  analogous  to  EMAS  to  sectors  outside  industry.  A  number  of 
Member States have taken advantage of this possibility as outlined below3. 

Experimental applications of EMAS outside industry 

Member State  No. of Sectors 
Austria 

2 

Sectors 

Denmark 

7 

Spain 

UK 

2 

1 

*  Transport 
Banking 
Public bodies 
Horticulture, mixed farming and forestry 
Car repair shops 
Hotel and restaurants 
Transport 
Cleaning 
Laundries and dry cleaning 
Public administration 
Tourism 
Local authorities 

Since the collection of this data Germany adopted a law in January  1998 which 
allows for experimental applications in a number of sectors such as the  financial 
sector,  the retail trade and  sporting  activities.  Sweden  and Finland  are carrying 
out some projects, in particular in ministries, forestry, transport. 

In addition, five pilot projects have been co-financed  by the Commission to test 
both  the  interest  of  the  sectors  concerned  and  to  identify  those  areas  of  the 
existing Regulation which need to be changed to accommodate new sectors. 

These pilots have applied to 

- 

- 

- 

- 

the transport sector (airports) 

the tourism sector 

the water supply sector 

the education sector (universities) 

-  the retail and wholesale sector. 

Experience from the  implementation  of EMAS and from pilot  schemes  in new 
sectors  has  highlighted  a  number  of  issues  concerning  the  restricted  scope  of 
EMAS. 

See footnote 1. 

Thus, 

-  All  the  pilot  schemes  show  demand  exists  for  EMAS  outside  the  industry 

sector. 

-  Many  organisations  outside 

the 

industrial/manufacturing  sector  have 

significant environmental impacts. 

-  Environmental management systems are equally applicable to all sectors. 

-  The site-based approach of EMAS and the emphasis placed by EMAS on the 
management of direct environmental  effects  generated by the site's  operation 
is not applicable in some sectors. The non-industry .sector is characterised by 
indirect environmental impacts and non-site based operation. 

-  There  is  a  need  to  include  key  service  providers  in  the  Scheme,  such  as 
financial  institutions, in order to improve their understanding of the process. 

-  The supply chain pressure is greatly reduced  if parts of the supply chain are 

excluded from participation. 

In  order  to  resolve  these  issues  EMAS  should  be  open  to  participation  of  all 
economic sectors. Article 3 allows for this. 

Relationship between EMAS and ISO 

EMAS  requires  participating  industrial  sites  to  establish  an  environmental 
management  system  (EMS). When  EMAS was  adopted,  no  international  EMS 
standards existed. However, on 1 September  1996 the International  Organisation 
for  Standardisation  adopted ISO  14001 as the international EMS standard, three 
years after the entry into force of EMAS. 

This standard is applicable world-wide and open to participation by all economic 
sectors.  ISO  14001  therefore  has  a  broader  scope  than  EMAS  in  terms  of 
geographical and sectoral coverage. It is the result of international consensus and 
thus represents a significant achievement in the field of EMS. It does not however 
fulfil  all  the  requirements  of  EMAS,  in  particular  the  publication  of  an 
environmental  statement.  Since  its  adoption,  in  September  1996,  it  has  been 
possible to use ISO 14001 as a building block of EMAS. 

On  16 April  1997, the Commission  adopted  a Decision which recognises those 
elements of ISO 14001 equivalent to the corresponding EMAS requirements, The 
purpose  of  this  Decision  is  to  allow  companies  to  use  an  existing  ISO  14001 
certificate  as  a  stepping  stone  towards  EMAS  registration  and  thus  avoid 
duplication of work. Given that EMAS and ISO  14001 were drafted  at  different 
times and by different  committees, it is not surprising that differences  exist in the 
EMS requirements. This has caused confusion  in the market and in  some cases 
has led to the perception that EMAS and ISO  14001 are competitors. Having to 
choose between  ISO  14001  and EMAS will  only  diminish  the  overall  level of 
participation.  To  this  end  ISO  14001  will  be  introduced  as  the  management 
system requirements of EMAS. Annex I covers this. 

In order to ensure a continuing compatibility between ISO 14001 and EMAS, it is 
important that the Commission can react quickly to international developments in 
the field of environmental  standards. To this  end, the Committee  described in 
Article 14 is a management Committee type II a. 

Involvement of employees 

The involvement of employees is a key element in the successful  implementation 
of EMAS. The EU study showed clearly that one of the main benefits  generated 
by EMAS is improved employee morale as shown in the graph presented page 13. 
This  example  of good  practice  is recognised  by all  stakeholders,  particularly 
ETUC  and  UNICE.  The  involvement  of  employees  should  therefore  be  a 
requirement  in  the revision  of  EMAS.  The introduction  of  this  provision in 
Article  1 regarding the objectives  of EMAS will  ensure that a higher profile is 
given to employees in the implementation of EMAS. 

Consistency of the implementation of EMAS in the Member States 

By  the end of  August  1998,  there  were  1787 registered  sites,  representing  a 
geographical  coverage  of  14 countries  -  13 Member  States  and Norway  -. 
However, the level of EMAS participation in the Member States differs  as shown 
in the table below. 

N U M B ER  OF  R E G I S T E R ED  S I T ES  BY  M E M B ER  S T A TE 

100 

10 

00 

10C 

00 

L...,  H  O o 
I 1 JZ 

t  i 
I 
|  1  4 

13 

ff i 
\£  i 

1 1  /.oo 

Update: 
A u g u st  98 

Log  scale 

-j 

Austria 
Belgium 

Denmark 

Finland 

France 

Germany 
Ireland 

Italy 
Luxembourg 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Spam 

S w e d en 
nited  Kingdom 

10 

";  L ' 
-f 
|7 

r 
|G 

r> 
|l> 

| 1 
1 
1 
I 
1 

I 
1 

i 
I 
i 1 

i 

9  1 
1 *•  I 

l 43 

= , 15 

I  1  1 u 

r  p 
i GU 

This  unbalanced  geographical  coverage  is  due  to  a number  of  reasons  which 
include 

-  The time taken by Member States to set up the national structures required  by 

the EMAS Regulation. 

The period between July  1993 and April  1995 was designed  for the setting up 
by  Member  States  of  the  two  national  structures  necessary  for  companies  to 
participate in EMAS, the competent body and the accreditation body. 

This  essential  procedural  stage has been completed  at different  speeds by the 
Member States, in some cases longer than the time allowed by the Regulation. 
The direct consequence was that it was impossible for industry to join EMAS, 
irrespective of its interest in the Scheme. 

At the moment, the required structures are still missing in Portugal and Greece 
where  industry  is  expressing  its  interest  for  EMAS  directly  to  Commission 
services. Legal procedures under Article  169 of the Treaty are ongoing  against 
Portugal and Greece. 

-  The type of structures chosen by Member States to fulfil the EMAS obligations, 

in particular  that of the competent body. 

Article  18  of  the  EMAS  Regulation  allows  Member  States  a  degree  of 
discretion in designating the competent body. Thus, some Member States have 
chosen  a decentralised  approach,  as in the case  of  Spain and Belgium  where 
there is more than one competent body, on the basis of the regional  divisions. 
In Germany,  the political  decision  was  made to keep  the competent  body  as 
close  as  possible  to  businesses  and  thus  44  Chambers  of  Industry  and 
Commerce  and  21  Chambers  of  Skilled  Craftsman  have  been  designated  as 
competent bodies for the purpose of EMAS. This link with business has been 
well received by industry. In the case of France however, the link between the 
competent  body  and  the  inspection  authority  has  caused  industry  to  fear  a 
potential  increase  in  control  of  industrial  sites  and  thus  to  question  the 
voluntary nature of EMAS. 

-  The commitment from Member States themselves towards EMAS. 

In the  case  of  the  UK  or the  Netherlands,  British  standard  BS  7750,  which 
predates  EMAS,  represented  a  direct  competition  to  EMAS.  Where  a 
multiplicity of schemes exists the level of participation in any one scheme will 
of course be reduced. In addition, when the national standards British, Irish and 
Spanish were withdrawn, companies with a national certificate  upgraded their 
certificate  to  an  ISO  14001  one,  thus  contributing  to  an  artificially  quick 
uptake of ISO 14001. 

10 

The principle  of subsidiarity  which  is embodied  in EMAS  allows Member  States 
to  implement  some  requirements  of  the  Regulation  in  line  with  their  particular 
situations.  Thus  the  Regulation  cannot  dictate  how  national  implementations 
should  be  addressed,  however  it  can  provide  for  Member  States  to  come  to  a 
common  understanding  of  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation.  The  means  to 
achieve  this  consistency  have  been  established  under  Articles  4  and  5  by 
establishing a forum of competent bodies and a forum of accreditation bodies. 

•  Visibility of EMAS  participation 

The  study  also  indicates  that  benefits  to  be  generated  by the reporting  aspect  of 
EMAS  -  the  environmental  statement  -  have  not  yet  been  fully  achieved.  The 
success  of  EMAS  depends  to  a  large  extent  on  the  degree  of  awareness  of  the 
Scheme among the public and other stakeholders. 

To achieve greater recognition of participation  in EMAS, companies registered  in 
the  Scheme  suggested  the  adoption  of  a  logo.  This  logo  could  be  used  in 
conjunction  with  the  environmental  statement  and  hence  be  associated  with  the 
information  on  environmental  performance.  The 
provision  of  credible 
introduction of a logo is covered in Article 8. 

The responsibility  for  promoting  EMAS  rests with  a number  of different  bodies, 
Member  States,  participating  companies  and  the  Commission.  Member  States 
have  responsibilities  within  the  Regulation  for  the  promotion  of  the  Scheme 
which include 

-  The provision  of information to the public. 

To  date the  effectiveness  of  this has been  variable.  Member  States  have  used 
different  methods,  such  as  dissemination  of  brochures  and  organisation  of 
seminars, with varying degrees of success. 

-  The promotion  of EMAS to companies, particularly  SMEs. 

The degree of success is variable in Member States. Different  organisations  are 
used  as  channels  of  promotion,  mainly  chambers  of  commerce,  sectoral 
associations, competent bodies and ministries. 

It  is interesting  to note  that  those  Member  States which  use local bodies  such  as 
chambers  of commerce  as the  competent  bodies  and  to promote EMAS  have  the 
largest uptake in terms of EMAS registrations, as in the case of Germany. 

Participating  companies  have  a  responsibility  in  the  promotion  of  EMAS 
particularly  with  regard  to  supply  chain  management.  This  provides  another 
mechanism through which to increase awareness about the Scheme by involving a 
larger number of companies, many of which will be SMEs. 

The Commission is responsible for ensuring that there is a consistent message concerning 
registration, procedures and direct benefits  of participation in EMAS. These principles on 
communication are covered in Article 10. 

11 

3. 

O B J E C T I V ES  OF  T HE  R E V I S I ON 

The objectives of the Proposal put forward are to 

•  increase  the  potential  of  EMAS  to  make  a  contribution  to  sustainable 

development, 

•  rationalise the relationship between EMAS and the international standards in the 

field  of environmental management, 

•  enhance the involvement of employees, 

•  increase the visibility of participation in EMAS for businesses, 

•  increase  the  consistency  of  the  implementation  of  EMAS  across  the  Member 

States. 

4.  MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

In order to fulfil  the above objectives, the Commission proposes, with reference to 
the 93/1836/EEC Regulation, to 

•  open  the  scope  of  the  EMAS  Regulation  to  cover  all  organisations  with 
significant  environmental  effects,  direct  and  indirect,  in  order  to maximise the 
market  drivers  for  the  Scheme  as  well  as  providing  maximum  coverage  of 
significant environmental impacts (Article 3); 

•  include ISO  14001 as the EMS requirement  of EMAS  in order  to  send  a clear 
message to potential participants that moving from ISO  14001 to EMAS would 
not require any duplication of work (Annex I A); 

•  change the Committee described in Article  19 to a management Committee type 
II a. This will ensure a continuing compatibility between ISO  14001 and EMAS 
by allowing the Commission to react quickly to international developments in the 
field  of environmental standards. This will also allow EMAS to adapt quickly to 
stakeholders and market needs (Article 14); 

• 

include the requirement for participating organisations to involve their employees 
in the implementation of EMAS (Article 1); 

12 

increase  the participation  of  SMEs by developing  a set  of supporting  tools  for 
them, such as 

- 

issuing guidance to verifiers in order to ensure that they understand the culture 
of SMEs and thus ensure that their checks are proportional to the requirements 
of  SMEs whilst  fulfilling  the objectives  of  EMAS, (to be developed  by the 
Commission). 

-  encouraging  Member  States  to  take  the  measures  falling  under  their 
competence,  such as reducing  or waiving  any registration  fees  they  levy on 
participating SMEs (Article 10.1 ); 

encourage  Member  States  to  use  the  potential  of  EMAS  participation  in  the 
implementation and control of environmental legislation (Article 10.2); 

adopt a visible and recognisable logo in order to assist the promotion of EMAS 
and to provide organisations with a means to easily advertise their participation 
(Article 8); 

• 

develop  a  promotional  strategy  shared  between  Member  States  and  the 
Commission (Article 11); 

increase  the  follow-up  of the  improvements  of  the  environmental  performance 
carried  out  by  organisations  through  more  regular  verification  and  reporting 
(Annex V); 

ensure  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  EMAS  by  increased  verification 
frequency and  strengthened  supervision  of  the  work  performed  by  verifiers 
(Annex V); 

enhance the added value of EMAS compared to other EMS (Annex IB); 

ensure  the  consistency  of  implementation  of  the  Regulation  across  Member 
States by setting up a forum  of accreditation  bodies  and a forum  of competent 
bodies  in order to provide  for  a common  understanding  and  application  of the 
requirements  of  the  Regulation.  These  fora  would  also  facilitate 
the 
dissemination of best practice (Articles 4 and 5). 

5. 

SUBSIDIARITY 

The adoption of EMAS at Community level was necessary to ensure a level playing 
field  within the Single Market. The lack of a European scheme may have resulted in 
the  establishment  of  national  schemes  which  could  potentially  have  been 
incompatible. Such a situation would have had repercussions for the Single Market. 

This  Proposal  does  not  alter  the  situation  with  regard  to  the  internal  market  and 
continues  to  respect  the  principles  of  subsidiarity  by  leaving  the  technical 
implementation  of  EMAS  to  the  Member  States  through  the  functioning  of  the 
competent bodies and accreditation bodies. 

13 

The effectiveness  of EMAS in contributing to better environmental performance  of 
European  companies  is  thus  ensured  whilst  the  measures  that  can  be  adequately 
performed at national level are left to the Member States. 

6. 

POSITION  OF STAKEHOLDERS 

A  wide  range  of  consultations  have  been  carried  out  with  EMAS  stakeholders. 
There is general agreement on the main elements of this Proposal. However, some 
reservations have been expressed regarding specific  issues. Germany has concerns 
regarding  the  credibility  of  extending  the  Scheme  to  all  economic  operators. 
Industry  has  concerns  regarding  increased  costs  associated  with  more frequent 
surveillance and NGOs have concerns over the use of ISO 14001 as a replacement 
for the initial environmental review. All of these concerns have been  addressed in 
the text of the proposed revision as shown in attachment 1. 

7. 

ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT 

The EMAS Regulation  is a voluntary  instrument, which defines  an  environmental 
management  system,  but  does  not  prescribe  the  environmental  objectives  and 
improvements to be reached by a company. It is therefore not possible to perform a 
traditional  cost/benefit  analysis.  However,  the  review  process  provides  some 
insights  on the costs and benefits  that  can be generated by the implementation  of 
EMAS. 

•  Costs 

The costs encountered by economic operators in the implementation of EMAS are 
of two types, internal and external. 

The external costs related to the participation in the Scheme include 

- 

- 

the cost of verification, which is market-regulated; 

the cost of registration, which is set by the Member States. 

A zero cost is applied by some Member States, as in the case of France, the UK, 
Belgium  and  Spain. In other countries the cost may vary  according to  different 
factors,  such  as  the  size  of  site,  the  national  enforcement  policy  and 
administrative costs as illustrated below4. 

Cost of registration 

Breakdown of costs 

Variation in costs 

None 
See table below 
134 registration 
134 annually 
1015 to 1691  registration 
169 annually 

None 
Yes 
None 

Yes,<50 employees pay 1015, 
all others pay higher rate.  All 

Average 
cost (ECU) 

413 
Not 
applicable 
Not 
available 

Member 
States 

Austria 
Germany 
Denmark 

Finland 

Total cost 
(ECU-
30.11.97) 

506 
229 to 877 
267 

1015 
1691 

to 

4 

See footnote 1. 

14 

Sweden 

1165 
24240 

to 

1165 to 24240 registration 
25% 
annually = 291 to 6060 

registration 

of 

pay same annual  fee 
Yes 

fee 

2913 
registration 
fee, 
annual  fee 

728 

Germany  -  Breakdown 
of costs 
small enterprise 
<50 employees 
Medium enterprise 
50 to 250 employees 
Large enterprise 
>250 employees 

Little 
effort (ECU) 

administrative 

Average  administrative  effort 
(ECU) 

Significant 
(ECU) 

administrative  effort 

229 

392 

554 

392 

554 

712 

554 

712 

877 

In addition, the company may also incur internal costs in order to implement an 
effective  environmental  management  system.  These  costs  may  cover  technical 
assistance and the implementation of specific measures to improve the industrial 
process. These costs vary with the size of the company, the production process 
and the initial level of environmental performance of the company. 

However, over a period of three years, evidence shows that the average pay back 
period for companies having implemented EMAS is 18 months, taking account of 
in  performance  improvements  as  well  as  direct  cost  reductions  generated  by 
participation in the Scheme. 

Benefits 

Experience  with  the practical  implementation  of  EMAS  over  a period  of  three 
years provides insight into the direct benefits  generated by EMAS participation. 
The benefits identified by companies are shown below5 

5 See footnote 1. 

15 

31% 

129% 

26% 

Benefits  identified by participating  sites 

Benefits 

Cost savings 

Better image 

Improved employee moral 

Improve environmental 
performance 

Better organisation, programme 
and targets 

Assured regulatory compliance 

Competitive advantage 

Improve documentation/EMS 

Training of employees/staff 
awareness 

More customers/greater customer 
satisfaction 

0% 

5% 

' 1 0% 

15% 

20% 

25% 

30% 

35% 

Percentage  of  All  Registered  Sites 

In  addition,  other  benefits  of  EMAS  participation  are  beginning  to  become 
visible. These include 

-  reduced insurance premiums and improved access to loans at more  favourable 

conditions, 

-  a decrease in  fines, 

- 

increased market shares. 

These  benefits  provide  clear  evidence  that  the  implementation  of  an  effective 
environmental  management  system  can  contribute  to  sustainable  production. 
They  also  show that improved  environmental  performance  can go hand in hand 
with enhanced competitiveness through the EMAS process. 

8. 

IMPACT ON SMEs 

The  larger  part  of  economic  operators  in  the  European  Union  are  SMEs  which 
contribute  to  65% of the EU GNP. As  a whole  they play  an important part in the 
economy  of the EU and contribute considerably to the impact of industrial  activity 
on  the  environment.  In  a  number  of  sectors  where  EMAS  is  applicable,  SMEs 
represent  the  largest proportion of  operators,  as  in  the  case  of  the manufacture  of 
food products and beverages and the manufacture of fabricated metal products. 

With  47%  of  EMAS  registered  sites  having  less  than  250  employees,  the 
participation of SMEs in EMAS is good but could be improved. 

Widespread  participation  of  SMEs  in EMAS  would  in  addition have  a substantial 
effect  on the environmental performance of industry as a whole in the EU. 

16 

However, it must be noted that, while SMEs may face specific  difficulties  linked to 
the  lack  of financial, technical  and human  resources,  available  evidence  suggests 
that  there  are  no  intrinsic  characteristics  of  the  Scheme  which  inhibit  SME 
participation. 

Difficulty  in understanding the Scheme is  a good indicator of barriers that may be 
presented to participation. According to available information,  35% of all registered 
sites considered no element of EMAS difficult  to understand. This percentage is  of. 
62% in the specific case of small sized enterprises. 

The specific impact this Proposal intends to have on SMEs is to increase the support 
provided to them as covered in Article  10. In addition other practical means can be 
adopted to assist SMEs. 

-  Development of business co-operation 

Large  companies  can  play  a  decisive  role  in  promoting  the  number  of  SMEs 
participating  in  EMAS  by  sharing  the  knowledge  and  resources  they  have  in 
environmental management systems. 

-  Reduction of administrative procedures 

The  simplification  of  administrative  procedures,  in  particular  documentation 
requirements,  necessary  to  obtain  an  EMAS  registration  should  make  SME 
participation easier. Thé most effective means by which this can be achieved is to 
ensure  that  accredited  verifiers  are  fully  aware  of  the  special  circumstances  of 
SMEs  and take them  into account upon verification.  In addition Member  States 
should  consider  the  use  of  EMAS  as  a  tool  to  fulfil  certain  regulatory 
requirements,  an element which would be  of particular relevance  to  SMEs. The 
rationale behind this would be to avoid  any unnecessary burden whilst  ensuring 
the added value of EMAS implementation. 

-  Provision of support to SMEs 

SMEs can be encouraged to participate in EMAS by providing them with specific 
technical and financial assistance measures. 

9. 

PROMOTION 

As  a  result  of  its  voluntary  nature,  EMAS  has  to  be  treated  differently  to  the 
traditional mandatory Regulation. In effect  EMAS can be seen as a "product" of the 
European  Community  and should be  marketed  to  the  target  audience  in the  same 
manner  as  any  other  product.  The  main  target  audience  for  EMAS  consists  of 
organisations  with  significant  environmental  effects,  which  will  implement  the 
Scheme  and  publish  an  environmental  statement.  However,  the  decision  to 
participate  will  be  influenced  by  a  variety  of  stakeholders.  The  general  public, 
NGOs, customers and regulators will all have a significant influence on the decision 
of organisations whether to participate in EMAS or not. 

17 

The  challenge  for  EMAS  is  to  be  a  product  that  is  recognised,  understood  and 
accepted  by  its  target  audience,  whilst  also  ensuring  that  those  actors  who  will 
influence  the target  audience  appreciate the benefits  of the Scheme  and will  apply 
pressure on the target audience to participate in EMAS. 

It is important to ensure that the position of EMAS is clearly understood. Up to now 
the  perception  has  been  that  ISO  14001  and  EMAS  are  in  competition.  Data 
suggests  that  although  some  companies  have  gained  both  EMAS  registration  and 
ISO  certification,  over half have  chosen  only  EMAS  registration  even  though  the 
requirements of ISO  14001  are covered by EMAS. This situation is more  common 
for  SMEs.  This suggests  that the two  schemes  are not  seen as complementary  and 
that a choice between the two has to be made. 

It is therefore important that EMAS is seen as "going beyond" ISO 14001. It would 
then be perceived as a progression from ISO certification,  adding credibility  to the 
system  elements of ISO  14001  with the addition of  legal compliance,  performance 
improvement and external communication. There is a clear market opportunity here 
as  has  been  demonstrated  in  the  field  of  Quality  Management  (ISO  9001).  The 
major question asked by ISO 9001 certified companies is "where do I go now?". In 
the  field  of  environmental  management  EMAS  can fill this gap. With this  market 
positioning, EMAS as "going beyond" ISO would have more credibility. 

The successful  promotion of EMAS  implies that the key messages reach the target 
audiences.  This will  require partnerships between the key  actors, the  Commission, 
Member  States  and  participating  organisations.  The  key  messages  should  be 
developed  by  the  Commission  and  disseminated  to  the  Member  States.  Member 
States should be responsible for the promotion of these messages to the stakeholders 
and the general public. In addition the Commission should work in partnership with 
economic  operators to ensure that the benefits  of EMAS  are promoted through the 
supply chain, using traditional customer/supplier relations. 

These  partnerships  between  participating  organisations,  Member  States  and  the 
Commission  should  ensure that the key messages  reach the target  audiences  using 
traditional public relations methods such as 

-  Presentation in seminars and conferences, 

-  Promotion of business partnerships between large and small companies, 

-  Developments of key messages for Member States, 

-  Development of electronic communication such as a Web-site, 

-  Preparation of articles for publication in trade and other journals. 

18 

10.  CONCLUSIONS 

The proposed  changes  are essential  to drive EMAS to increase its contribution  to 
sustainable  development  and  to  maintain  the  potential  of  such  a  market-based 
instrument, in order to effectively  complement the command-and-control approach 
of environmental policy. 

The main elements of the Proposal which will contribute to this are 

•  extension of  the scope of EMAS to organisations with significant  environmental 

effects; 

•  integration of ISO 14001 as the EMS requirements of EMAS; 

involvement of employees in the implementation of EMAS; 

• 

•  increase in the participation of SMEs by developing a set of supporting tools; 

•  adoption of a visible and recognisable logo; 

•  increase in the follow-up of the improvements of the environmental performance 

carried out by organisations; 

•  enhancement of the added value of EMAS compared to other EMSs; 

•  promotion  of  the  consistency  of  implementation  of  the  Regulation  across 

Member States. 

11. CONTENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Article  1  concerns  the  objectives  of  EMAS.  It  introduces  the  concept  of 
organisation  as the basis  for  EMAS registration.  It  is  a direct consequence  of the 
widening  of the  scope  of  EMAS  from  the  industry  sector  to  all  activities having 
significant  environmental  effects.  In addition, Article  1 introduces that employees 
are  part  of  the  successful  implementation  of  EMAS  and  key  components  for 
achieving the aim of continuous improvement of the environmental performance of 
the organisation. 

Article 2 provides the definitions of the phrases used in EMAS. 

Article  3  presents  the  different  steps  required  from  organisations  for  the 
implementation of EMAS in a logical and usable way. 

Article  4  defines  the  role  of  the  Commission  in  ensuring  that  the  requirements 
concerning  verifiers  and  their  supervision  are  applied  consistently  across  the 
Member States. It introduces  a forum  of  accreditation bodies as a practical means 
for ensuring that all the issues related to the environmental verifiers  are considered 
on an equal basis in the Member States. 

19 

Article  5  defines  the role  of  competent  bodies  in  the  framework  of  ensuring  the 
consistency of registration. It introduces a forum of competent bodies as a practical 
means to achieve this. 

Article  6  defines  the way  in  which  competent  bodies  should  handle  requests  for 
registration. The intent is to ensure that organisation are treated on an equal basis in 
the  different  Member  States  and  have  some  certainty  on  the  criteria  applied  to 
registration. 

Article 7 introduces a harmonised frequency in the communication  of registration 
and accreditation from Member States to the Commission. 

Article 8 introduces a logo to be used by EMAS registered organisation in order to 
communicate to the public and their other stakeholders. It will a more efficient  tool 
for  visibility  than  the previous  statement  of participation.  It  embodies  safeguards 
concerning the use of the logo in order to avoid misleading use of it. 

Article 9 includes the latest developments in the standardisation field and aims to 
accommodate  any  future  developments  by  standardisation  bodies.  In  addition,  it 
details what  organisations  have to  demonstrate  when they  are making use of this 
Article. 

Article  10  details  the  support  and  recognition  to  be  given  to  organisations,  in 
particular to SMEs to ensure that participation in EMAS is adequately promoted. 

Article 11 emphasizes the importance of information  regarding EMAS and defines 
the respective roles of the Member States and the Commission. 

Article 12 requires Member States to set up procedures in case of infringements  of 
the provisions of the EMAS Regulation. 

Article 13 provides for technical adaptation of the annexes of the Regulation to face 
needs for clarification in the implementation requirements of EMAS. 

Article 14 defines the Committee responsible for managing the Regulation. 

Ï» 

Article  15 introduces an opportunity  for the Regulation to be revised  and to takes 
into account the developments that will arise from the experience with the amended 
Regulation.' 

Article 16 defines the costs and fees associated with the EMAS Regulation. 

Article 17 details the transition measures from the 93/1836/93 EMAS Regulation to 
the new Regulation. 

Article 18 provides for the entry into force of this Regulation. 

Annex I A allows for the International  standard ISO 14001 to be used as the EMS 
requirement for EMAS. 

Annex I B covers the element  specific  to EMAS which  shall be delivered by the 
EMS set up according to ISO 14001. 

20 

Annex II details the functioning of the internal audit. 

Annex  III  defines  the  requirements  for  the  environmental  statement  to  enable 
participating companies to better target their information. 

Annex IV defines the characteristics of the logo. 

Annex V details the requirements concerning the competence and supervision of the 
environmental verifiers  in order to take into account the extension of the scope to 
new  sectors  as  well  as  enhancing  the  credibility  of  the  activities  performed  by 
verifiers. 

Annex -VI  provides  information  to  help  organisations  in  the  identification  and 
assessment of their environmental aspects, in particular in the context of extension 
of EMAS outside the industry sector. 

Annex  VII  provides  support  to  organisations  in  conducting  their  environmental 
review, listing the issues to be considered when building an effective EMS. 

Annex VIII standardises the information to be provided by the organisation during 
the registration process with the objective  of gathering harmonised  data, allowing 
comparison across Member States. 

21 

Attachment I 

Position of stakeholders 

Main issues of the 
Proposal 

Objective of the elements 
proposed 

Extension of the scope 
ofEMAS 

Allow all economic activities 
having significant  environmental 
impacts to use EMAS to improve 
their environmental performance. 

Position ofEMAS 
stakeholders and 
potential remarks 

Article 
addressing the 
main issues 

No objection. 

Article 3 

Compatibility ofEMAS 
with ISO 14001 

Employees involvement 

Support and incentives 
for SMEs 

Increase the compatibility between 
EMAS and ISO 14001 where they 
overlap in order to avoid companies 
having to build two Environmental 
Management Systems. To be 
achieved by including ISO 14001 
as the Environmental Management 
System component of EMAS. 

Ensure that organisations 
implementing EMAS provide their 
employees with training on the 
environmental impacts of their 
tasks and allow them to contribute 
actively to the implementation of 
EMAS on an interactive basis. 

Ensure that practical means are put 
in place in order to allow for the 
implementation ofEMAS for all 
sizes of business. 

Logo 

Design a more visible sign of 
EMAS participation. 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders provided the 
added value ofEMAS is 
ensured and strengthened. 

Annex IA and 
Annex IB 

Article 1 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders for 
introducing this element 
in the Article concerning 
the objectives ofEMAS. 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders. 

Article 10 

Article 8 and 
Annex IV 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders. Need to 
ensure that the use of the 
logo is not misleading and 
is not confused with the 
eco-labelling scheme. 
Practical details to be 
explored on the basis of 
these principles. 

Promotional strategy on 
EMAS 

Ensure that EMAS, as a voluntary 
instrument, benefits from consistent 
information and promotion 
measures across Member States. 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders. 

Article 11 

22. 

Cycle of verification 

Enhance the credibility  ofEMAS 
by changing the length of the cycle 
of external verification from 3 
years maximum to yearly 
verification. 

Environmental 
statement 

Competence of the 
verifiers 

Consistency between 
Member States 

Strengthen the quality and use of 
the statement, which is the external 
communication element ofEMAS. 
Enhance the interface between 
stakeholders and organisations 
participating in EMAS. 

Ensure the competence and the 
monitoring of verifiers in order to 
provide for the overall credibility of 
the EMAS. To be achieved by 
defined criteria of competence and 
in creased supervision of verifiers. 

Ensure that EMAS is applied in the 
same way in all the Member States. 
To be achieved with the support of 
two technical fora gathering 
accreditation and competent bodies. 

Definition  of 
organisations/sites 

Modify the existing site-based 
registration to encompass all types 
of economic activities following the 
extension of the scope  ofEMAS 
and to be compatible with 
ISO 14001. 

Agreement of most of the 
stakeholders. 

Article 3.2 

Germany in favour of a 
maintained cycle of three 
years maximum. 

UEAPME and Austria in 
favour of a flexible 
approach (1 year with 
exceptions) to be defined 
through guidelines, in 
particular for SMEs. 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders. 

Annex III 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders. 

Annex V 

Germany in favour of the 
supervision of verifiers on 
a 3 year basis. 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders. 

Number of meetings of 
the two fora not to be too 
prescriptive in the 
Regulation. Mandate of 
the fbra to be clearly 
defined. 

Agreement of all the 
stakeholders provided the 
entity covered by the 
EMAS implementation is 
clearly defined in the 
environmental statement 
and agreed with the 
environmental verifier. 

Articles 4 

and 5 

Article 2 

2% 

PROPOSAL FOR A 
COUNCIL REGULATION 
ALLOWING VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY ORGANISATIONS IN 
A COMMUNITY ECO-MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article 130 S (1) thereof, 

Having regard to the Proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee, 

Acting  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article  189c  of  the  Treaty  in 
cooperation with the European Parliament, 

Whereas Article 2 of the Treaty stipulates that the Community shall have among its tasks 
to promote throughout the Community sustainable growth and the Council resolution  of 
February 1993l  stresses the importance of such sustainable growth; 

Whereas  the  programme  'Towards  Sustainability',  presented  by  the  Commission  and 
approved  as  to  its  general  approach  by  the  Council  resolution  of  I  February  1993, 
underlines the role and responsibilities of companies, both to reinforce the economy and 
to protect the environment throughout the Community; 

Whereas  the  programme  Towards  Sustainability'  calls  for  broadening  the  range  of 
instruments in the field of environmental protection and for using market-mechanisms to 
commit organisations to adopt a pro-active approach in this field beyond compliance with 
all relevant regulatory requirements regarding the environment; 

Whereas  Council  Regulation  93/1836/EEC  allowing  voluntary  participation  by 
companies  in  the  industrial  sector  in  a Community  eco-management  and audit  scheme 
(EMAS) demonstrated its effectiveness  in promoting improvements of the environmental 
performance of industry; 

Whereas  EMAS  should  therefore  be  made  available  for  all  organisations  having 
significant  environmental  impacts,  providing  a  means  for  them  to  manage  these 
significant impacts and to improve their overall environmental performance; 

Whereas  the  experience  gathered  from  the  implementation  of  Council  Regulation 
93/1836/EEC shall be used to enhance the ability of EMAS to bring about improvement 
of the overall environmental performance of organisations; 

Whereas,  in  conformity  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity  and  the  principle  of 
proportionality  referred  to  in  Article  3b  of  the  Treaty,  the  effectiveness  of  EMAS  in 
contributing  to  better  environmental  performance  of  European  organisations  is  to  be 

*  *  O.J. no. C  138 of  17.5.1993, p.  1-4 

^ 
IU 

achieved at Community level; whereas this Regulation limits itself to ensuring an equal 
implementation  of EMAS throughout  the Community by providing  for  common rules, 
procedures and essential requirements regarding EMAS whilst the measures that can be 
adequately performed at national level are left to the Member States; 

Whereas organisations should be encouraged to participate in EMAS on a voluntary basis 
and  should  gain  added  value  in  terms  of  regulatory  control,  cost  savings  and  public 
image; 

Whereas it is important that small and medium-sized enterprises participate in EMAS and 
that  their  participation  should  be  promoted  by  establishing  or  promoting  technical 
assistance measures  and structures  aimed  at providing  such organisations with relevant 
expertise and appropriate support; 

Whereas the information provided by Member States shall be used by the Commission to 
assess the need for developing specific measures aimed at greater participation in EMAS 
by organisations, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises; 

Whereas the transparency  and credibility  of organisations  implementing  environmental 
management systems are enhanced when their management system, audit programme and 
environmental statement are examined to verify that they meet the relevant requirements 
of this Regulation and when the environmental statement and its subsequent updates are 
validated by accredited environmental verifiers; 

Whereas it is therefore necessary to ensure the competence of the environmental verifiers 
by  providing  for  an  independent  and  neutral  accreditation  system  and  an  appropriate 
supervision of their activities in order to ensure the overall credibility of EMAS; 

Whereas  organisations  should  be  encouraged  to  produce  and  make  publicly  available 
periodic  environmental  statements  providing  the  public  and  other  stakeholders  with 
information on their environmental performance; 

Whereas  the  Commission  should,  according  to  a  Community  procedure,  adapt  the 
Annexes  to  this  Regulation,  recognise  European  and  international  standards  for 
environmental issues of relevance to EMAS and establish guidelines in partnerships with 
EMAS stakeholders for ensuring a consistent implementation of the EMAS requirements 
across the Member States; 

Whereas  this  Regulation  should  be  revised  in  the  light  of  experience  gained  after  a 
certain period of operation, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION 

25" 

Article 1 

The eco-management and audit scheme and its objectives 

1. A Community  scheme  allowing  voluntary  participation  by organisations  hereinafter 
referred to as EMAS, is hereby established for the evaluation and improvement of the 
environmental  performance  of  organisations  and  the  provision  of  the  relevant 
information to the public and other stakeholders. 

2.  The  objective  of  EMAS  shall  be  to  promote  continual  improvements  in  the 

environmental performance of organisations by: 

(a) the establishment  and implementation  of environmental management  systems by 

organisations; 

(b)  the  systematic,  objective  and  periodic  evaluation  of  the  performance  of  such 

systems; 

(c) the provision of information of environmental performance to the public and other 

stakeholders; 

(d) the involvement of employees. 

3.  EMAS  shall  be  without  prejudice  to  Community  law or national  laws  or  technical 
standards  regarding  environmental  controls  not  governed  by  Community  law  and 
without prejudice to the duties of organisations under those laws and standards. 

Article 2 

Definitions 

For the purposes of this Regulation: 

(a)  environmental policy  shall  mean  the  organisations'  overall  aims  and  principles  of 
action  with  respect  to  the  environment  including  compliance  with  all  relevant 
regulatory requirements regarding the environment; 

(b)  environmental review  shall  mean  an  initial  comprehensive  analysis  of  the 
issues,  impact  and  performance  related  to  activities  of  an 

environmental 
organisation; 

(c)  environmental aspect shall mean an element of an organisation's activities, products 

or services that can interact with the environment. 
NOTE—A significant environmental aspect is an environmental aspect that has or 
can have a significant environmental impact. 

(d)  environmental impact shall mean any change to the environment, whether adverse or 
beneficial,  wholly or partially resulting from an organisation's activities, products or 
services; 

(e)  environmental programme  shall  mean  a  description  of  the  organisation's  specific 
objectives  and  activities  to  ensure  greater  protection  of  the  environment  of  an 
organisation  including  a description  of  the measures taken or envisaged to  achieve 
such objectives and where appropriate the deadlines  set for implementation of such -
measures; 

(f)  environmental objective  shall  mean  an overall  environmental  goal,  arising from the 
environmental  policy,  that  an  organisation  sets  itself  to  achieve,  and  which  is 
quantified where practicable; 

(g)  environmental target  shall  mean  a  detailed  performance  requirement,  quantified 
where practicable, applicable to the organisation or parts thereof, that arises from the 
environmental  objectives and that needs to be set and met in order to achieve those 
objectives; 

(h)  environmental management system  shall  mean that part of  the  overall  management 
system  which  includes  the  organisational  structure,  responsibilities,  practices, 
procedures,  processes  and  resources  for  determining  and  implementing  the 
environmental policy; 

(i)  environmental  audit  shall  mean  a  management  tool  comprising  a  systematic, 
documented,  periodic  and  objective  evaluation  of  the  performance  of  the 
organisation, management system and processes designed to protect the environment 
with the aim of: 

(i)  facilitating  management  control  of  practices  which  may  have  impact  on  the 

environment; 

(ii) assessing compliance with the environmental policies of the organisation; 

(j) audit cycle shall mean the period of time in which all the activities in an organisation 

are audited; 

(k) environmental statement shall mean the information detailed in Annex III 3.2 a-g; 

(1)  organisation  shall  mean  a  company,  corporation,  firm,  enterprise,  authority  or 
institution,  or part  or combination  thereof,  whether  incorporated  or not,  public  or 
private, that has its own functions and administrations. 

The  entity  to  be  registered  shall  be  agreed  with  the  verifier  taking  account  of 
Commission  guidance,  established  in accordance with the procedures  laid down in 
Article  14, but  shall  not  exceed  the  boundaries  of  one  Member  State.  Where the 
organisation constitutes a site this shall be the basis for registration. 

(m)  site  shall  mean  all  land  at  a  distinct  geographic  location  under  the  management 
control of an organisation covering activities, products and services. This includes all 
infrastructure, equipment and materials; 

(n) auditor  shall mean an individual or a team, belonging to the organisation personnel or 
external to the organisation,  acting on behalf  of the organisation's  top  management, 
possessing,  individually  or  collectively,  the  competencies  referred  to  in  Annex  II 
paragraph 2.4 and being sufficiently  independent  of the activities they audit to make 
an objective judgement; 

(o) accredited  environmental verifier shall mean any person  or organisation  independent 
of  the  organisation  being  verified,  who  has  obtained  accreditation,  in  line  with  the 
conditions and procedures referred to in Article 4; 

(p)  accreditation  system  shall  mean  a  system  for  the  accreditation  and  supervision  of 
institution  or  organisation 
environmental  verifiers  operated  by  an  impartial 
designated  or  created  by  the  Member  State,  with  sufficient 
resources  and 
competency  and having appropriate procedures  for performing  the functions  defined 
by this Regulation for such a system; 

(q)  competent  bodies  shall  mean  the  bodies  designated  by  Member  States,  in  line  with 

Article 5, to perform the tasks mentioned in this Regulation. 

Article 3 

Participation  in EMAS 

EM AS  is  open  to  any  organisation  dedicated  to  improving  its  overall  environmental 
performance. 

1. Registration to EMAS 

In order for an organisation to be registered to EMAS it must: 

(a)  conduct  an  environmental  review  of  its  activities,  products  and  services  in 
accordance  with Annex VII of this Regulation  addressing  the issues  contained  in 
Annex VI and, in the light of the results of that review: 

(b)  implement  an  environmental  management  system  covering  all  the  elements 
described  in Annex I-A of this Regulation. An organisation must also provide  for 
legal  compliance,  environmental  performance 
improvement  and  external 
communication as explained in Annex I-B. 

Organisations  having  a  certified  environmental  management  system,  recognised 
according to the requirements of Article 9, do not need to conduct a formal  initial 
environmental  review  when  moving  on  to  EMAS  implementation,  if  the 
necessary  information  for  the  identification  and  evaluation  of the  environmental 
aspects  of  Annex  VI  is  provided  by  the  certified  environmental  management 
system. 

(c)  carry  out,  or  cause to be  carried  out,  environmental  auditing  in  accordance  with 
the requirements  of Annex II of this Regulation.  The  audits must be designed  to 
assess the environmental performance  of the organisation; 

28 

(d)  prepare,  in  accordance  with  Annex  III  3.2  an  environmental  statement.  The 
statement  should  pay particular  attention  to  the performance  of  an organisation 
against its environmental objectives and targets; 

(e)  have the initial  environmental  review, if appropriate, management  system, audit 
procedure  and  environmental  statement  or  extracts  of  it  produced  for  defined 
stakeholders,  if required  by the organisation,  examined  to verify  that they meet 
the  relevant  requirements  of  this  Regulation  and  the  environmental  statements 
validated to ensure it meets the requirements of Annex III 3.2; 

(f)  forward  the  validated  environmental  statement  to  the  competent  body  of  the 
Member  State where  the  organisation  is  located  and  after  registration,  make it 
publicly available. 

2. Maintenance of EM AS registration 

In order for an organisation to maintain registration to EMAS it must: 

a)  have the  environmental  management system  and  audit  programme  verified  in 

accordance with the requirements of Annex V 5.6; 

b)  forward  the  yearly  validated  updates  of  its  environmental  statement  to  the 

competent body and make them publicly available. 

Article 4 

Accreditation and supervision of environmental verifiers 

1.  Member  States  shall  establish  a  system  for  the  accreditation  of  independent 
environmental verifiers and for the supervision of their activities. To this end, Member 
States may either use existing accreditation institutions, the competent bodies referred, 
to in Article 5 or designate or set up any other body with an appropriate status. 

Member  States  shall  ensure  that  the  composition  of  these  systems  is  such  as  to 
guarantee their independence and neutrality in the execution of their tasks. 

2. Member  States shall ensure that these systems are fully  operational  within 3 months 

following the date of entry into force of. this Regulation. 

3. Member States shall ensure appropriate consultation of parties involved, in setting up 

and directing the accreditation systems. 

4. The accreditation of environmental verifiers and supervision of their activities shall be 

in accordance with the requirements of Annex V. 

5. Member  States shall inform  the Commission  of the measures taken pursuant  to this 
Article  and  communicate  relevant  changes  in  the  structure  and  procedures  of  the 
accreditation systems. 

23 

6.  The  Commission  shall,  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article 14, 

promote collaboration between Member States in order in particular to: 

- 

- 

- 

avoid inconsistency between the criteria, conditions and procedures they apply for 
the accreditation of environmental verifiers; 

avoid  inconsistency  between  the  procedures  and  measures  they  apply  for  the 
supervision of environmental verifiers they have accredited; 

avoid  inconsistency  between  the  procedures  and  measures  they  apply  for  the 
supervision of environmental verifiers accredited in other Member States. 

7.  Environmental  verifiers  accredited  in  one  Member  State  may  perform  verification 
activities  in  any  other  Member  State,  according  to  the  requirements  laid  down  in 
Annex V. 

8. A forum,  constituted  of all accreditation bodies, shall be set up by the  accreditation 
bodies with the  aim  of providing  the  Commission  with the  elements  and  means to 
fulfil  its obligation under Article 4.6. It shall meet, as necessary, at least twice per year 
attended by a representative of the Commission. 

The forum  shall develop guidance on issues in the field of accreditation, competence 
and supervision of verifiers through developing a common understanding of Annex V 
requirements.  These  guidance  documents  shall  be  submitted  to  the procedures  laid 
down in Article 14 of this Regulation. 

In  order  to  ensure  a  harmonised  development  of  the  functioning  of  accreditation 
bodies and the verification  process in all the Member States, the forum  shall develop 
procedures  for  a peer review process. The aim of the peer review shall be to ensure 
that  the  accreditation  systems  of  Member  States  meet  the  requirements  of  this 
Regulation.  A  report  of  the  peer  review  activities  will  be  transmitted  to  the 
Commission. 

Article 5 

Competent bodies 

1. Within 3 months of the entry into  force  of this Regulation, each Member State shall 
designate the competent  body responsible  for  carrying out the tasks provided  for  in 
this  Regulation,  particularly  in  Articles  6  and  7  and  shall  inform  the  Commission 
thereof. 

2. Member States shall ensure that the composition of the competent bodies is such as to 
guarantee their independence and neutrality, and that the competent bodies apply the 
provisions of this Regulation in a consistent manner. 

So 

3. Member States shall develop guidelines for suspension and deletion of the registration 
of  organisations,  for  the  use  of  competent  bodies.  Competent  bodies  shall,  in 
particular, have procedures for 

•  considering  observations 

from 

interested  parties  concerning 

registered 

organisations and 

• 

refusal of registration, deletion or suspension of organisations from registration. 

4.  The  competent  body  shall  be  responsible  for  the  registration  of  organisations  to 
EM AS.  It  shall therefore  control  the entry  and maintenance  of organisations  on the 
register.  Refusal  of  registration,  suspension  or  deletion  of  organisations  from  the 
register shall require the consultation of the appropriate interested parties, in order to 
provide  the  competent  body with  the necessary  elements  of  evidence  for  taking  its 
decision. 

5. Competent bodies from all Member States shall meet, as necessary, at least twice per 
year attended by a representative of the Commission. The objective of these meetings 
is to ensure the consistency of procedures relating to the registration of organisations 
to  EM AS.  A peer review process  shall  be put  in place by the  competent  bodies  in 
order for them to develop a common understanding of their practical approach towards 
registration.  A  report  of  the  peer  review  activities  will  be  transmitted  to  the 
Commission and made publicly available. 

Article 6 

Registration of organisations 

1. Registration of organisations shall be dealt with by competent bodies on the basis of 

the following cases: 

a) If a competent body 

-  has received a validated environmental statement and 

-  has received a completed form (Annex VIII) from the organisation and 

-  has received any registration fee that may be payable under Article 16 and 

- 

is satisfied, on the basis of evidence received, that the organisation meets all the 
requirements of this Regulation, 

it  shall register the applicant  organisation  and  give  it  a registration  number. The 
competent body shall inform  the organisation's management that the organisation 
appears on the register. 

b)  If  a  competent  body  receives  a  supervision  report  from  the  accreditation  body 
which  gives  evidence  that  the  activities  of  the  verifier  were  not  performed 
adequately enough to ensure that the requirements of this Regulation are met by the 
applicant  organisation, registration  shall be refused  until  assurance  of  compliance 
with EMAS is obtained. 

c) If an organisation fails to submit to a competent body, within three months of being 

required to do so, 

- 

- 

- 

the yearly validated updates of the environmental statement or 

a completed form (Annex VIII) from the organisation or 

any relevant registration fees 

the  organisation  shall  be  suspended  or deleted from the  register,  as  appropriate, 
depending on the nature and scope of the failure. The competent body shall inform 
the organisation's management of the reasons for the measures taken. 

d) If,  at any time, a competent body concludes, on the basis of evidence received, that 
the organisation is no longer complying with one or more of the conditions of this 
Regulation,  the  organisation  shall  be  suspended  or  deleted from the  register,  as 
appropriate, depending on the nature and scope of the failure. The competent body 
shall inform the organisation's management of the reasons for the measures taken. 

e)  If  a  competent  body  is  informed  by  the  competent  enforcement  authority  of  a 
breach  at  the  organisation  of  relevant  regulatory  requirements  regarding 
environmental protection, it shall refuse registration of that organisation or suspend 
it from the register as appropriate. 

The competent body shall inform the organisation's management of the reasons for 
the  measures  taken  and  of  the  process  of  discussion  with  the  competent 
enforcement authority. 

f) Refusal or suspension shall be lifted if the competent body has received satisfactory 
assurances  from  the  competent  enforcement  authority  that  the  breach  has  been 
rectified  and that satisfactory  arrangements  are in place  to  ensure that it  does not 
recur. 

2. The competent body shall update any changes in the list of organisations registered to 

EMAS on a monthly basis. 

Jtar 

Article 7 

List of registered organisations and accredited environmental verifiers 

1.  The  accreditation  systems  shall  establish,  revise  and  update  a  list  of  accredited 
environmental verifiers  in each Member  State and shall directly, or via the national 
authorities as decided by the Member State concerned, communicate changes in this 
list each month to the Commission. 

2. The competent bodies shall establish and maintain a list of registered organisations in 
each  Member  States.  The  competent  bodies  shall  directly,  or  via  the  national 
authorities as decided by the Member State concerned, communicate changes in this 
list each month to the Commission. 

3. The register of accredited environmental verifiers and EMAS registered organisations 

shall be maintained by the Commission which shall make it publicly available. 

Article 8 

Logo 

1. Organisations participating in EMAS may use the logo detailed in Annex IV. Annex 
IV shall be completed by the Commission acting in accordance with the procedure of 
Article  14.  The  logo  can  only  be  used  by  organisations  having  a  current  EMAS 
registration. 

The logo may not be used in any other form than that detailed in Annex IV. 

2. The EMAS logo may only be used by organisations in the following circumstances 

•  On validated environmental statements, 

•  On registered organisation letterheads, 

•  On information advertising an organisation's participation in EMAS. 

3.  The  logo  may  also  be  used  by  organisations  in  conjunction  with  environmental 

information related to activities, products and services 

•  provided the information  is covered in the environmental statement and has been 

validated by the verifier as: 

a)  Accurate and non deceptive 

b) 

Substantiated and verifiable 

c)  Relevant and used in an appropriate context or setting 

d) 

Specific and clear as to the particular aspect the claim relates 

e)  Unlikely to result in misinterpretation 

f) 

Significant in relation to the overall environmental impact 

35 

•  and  provided  that  the  wording  "validated  information"  is  added  to  the  logo  as 

detailed in Annex IV. 

4. The logo must not be used in the following cases 

•  on products or their packaging, 

• 

in  conjunction  with  comparative  claims  concerning  products,  activities  and 
services, 

•  on adverts for products, activities and services. 

Article 9 

Relationship with European and international standards 

1. Organisations  implementing,  European  or  international  standards  for  environmental 
issues  relevant  to  EMAS  and  certified,  according  to  appropriate  certification 
procedures,  as  complying  with  those  standards  shall  be  considered  as  meeting  the 
corresponding requirements of this Regulation, provided that: 

(a) the  standards  are  recognised  by  the  Commission  acting  in  accordance  with  the 

procedure laid down in Article 14; 

(b) the accreditation granted to the certification body is recognised by the Commission 

acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14. 

The references  of the recognised standards (including the relevant sections of EMAS 
to which they  apply) and recognised  accreditation  shall be published  in the Official 
Journal of the European Communities. 

2. To enable such organisations to be registered to EMAS, the organisations concerned 
must demonstrate to the verifier  only compliance with requirements not  covered by 
the recognised standards. 

Article 10 

Promotion of organisations* participation, in particular of small and medium-sized 

enterprises 

1.  Member  States  shall  promote  organisations'  participation  in  EMAS  and  shall,  in 
particular,  consider  the need  to  ensure  the participation  of  small  and  medium-sized 
enterprises (SMEs) by 

• 

facilitating the access to information, to support funds and to public structures, 

•  establishing or promoting technical assistance measures, especially in conjunction 
with initiatives from appropriate professional  or local points of contact  (e.g. local 
authorities, chamber of commerce, trade association). 

i4 

In order to promote participation of SMEs concentrated in well defined  geographical 
areas,  local  authorities,  in  participation  with  industrial  associations,  chambers  of 
commerce  and  interested  parties  may  provide  assistance  in  the  identification  of 
significant  environmental impacts associated with that area. SMEs may then use these 
in defining  their environmental programme  and setting the objectives  and targets of 
their EMAS management system. 

2. Member States shall consider how registration to EMAS according to this Regulation 
may be used in the implementation and control of environmental legislation in order to 
avoid  unnecessary  duplication  of  efforts  by  both  organisations  and  competent 
enforcement authorities. 

3. Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken under this Article. 

4.The  Commission  shall  promote  a  coherent  approach  between  the  legislative 
instruments developed at Community level in the field of environmental protection. 

Article 11 

Information 

1 .Each Member State shall ensure that: 

-  organisations are informed of the content of this Regulation, 

- 

the public is informed of the objectives and principal components of EMAS. 

Member  States  shall  in  particular  use  professional  publications,  local  journal, 
promotion  campaign  or any other  functional  means to  deliver  a general  awareness-
level on EMAS. 

2. Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken under this Article. 

3. The Commission shall be responsible for promoting EMAS at Community level. 

Article 12 

Infringements 

Member  States  shall take appropriate  legal  or  administrative  measures  in case of non 
compliance with the provisions of this Regulation  and communicate these measures to 
the Commission. 

35" 

Article 13 

Annexes 

The  Annexes  to  this  Regulation  shall  be  adapted  by  the  Commission,  acting  in 
accordance  with  the  procedure  of  Article  14 in  the  light  of  experience  gained  in  the 
operation  of  EMAS  and  in  response  to  identified  needs  for  guidance  on  EMAS 
requirements. 

Article 14 

Committee 

1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed of the representatives of 

the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission. 

2.  The representative  of the  Commission  shall  submit  to the committee  a draft  of the 
measures to be taken. The committee  shall deliver its opinion on the draft  within a 
time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. 
The opinion  shall be delivered by the majority  laid  down in Article  148 (2)  of the 
Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal 
from  the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within 
the committee shall be weighted in the manner set in that Article. The chairman shall 
not vote. 

3. (a) The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately. 

(b)  However,  if  these  measures  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of  the 
committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council  forthwith. 
In that event: 

-  The Commission may defer application of the measures which it has decided for a 

period of not more than one month from the date of such communication; 

-  The Council, acting by a qualified  majority,  may take a different  decision within 

the time limit referred to in the previous paragraph. 

Article 15 

Revision 

The  Commission  shall  review  EMAS  in  the  light  of  the  experience  gained  during  its 
operation and international developments no later than five years after its entry into force, 
and shall, if necessary, propose to the Council the appropriate amendments. 

Article 16 

Costs and fees  , 

1. A system of fees in accordance with modalities established by Member  States may be 
set  up  for  the  administrative  costs  incurred  in  connection  with  the  registration 
procedures  for  organisations  and  the  accreditation  and  supervision  of  environmental 
verifiers  and the costs of EMAS. 

2. Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken under this Article. 

Article 17 

Repeal of Regulation 93/1836/EEC 

1.  Regulation  93/1836/EEC  shall  be  repealed  at  the  date  of  entry  into  force  of  this 

Regulation. 

2.  Accreditation  systems  and  competent  bodies  set  up  pursuant 

to  Regulation 
93/1836/EEC  shall  remain  in  force.  Member  States  shall  modify  the  procedures 
followed  by  accreditation  systems  and  competent  bodies  under  the  corresponding 
provisions of this Regulation. Member States shall ensure that these systems are  fully 
operational within 3 months following the date of entry into force of this Regulation. 

3.  Environmental  verifiers  accredited  according  to  Regulation  93/1836/EEC  may 
continue  to perform  their  activities  according  to the requirements  established  by  this 
Regulation. 

4.  Sites  registered  according  to  Regulation  93/1836/EEC  will  remain  on  the  EMAS 
register. The new requirements  of this Regulation  applicable to organisations  shall be 
checked at the time of the next  verification. 

Article 18 

Entry into force 

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  third  day  following  its  publication  in  the 
Official Journal of the European Communities. 

It shall apply 3 months after  publication. 

This  Regulation  shall  be  binding  in  its  entirety  and  directly  applicable  in  all  Member 
States. 

Done at 

, 

For  the  Council 

The  President 

ANNEXI 

A. Environmental Management System Requirements 

The environmental management system shall be implemented according to Section 4 of 
the ISO 14001:1996 international standard for environmental management systems. 

B. Issues to be addressed by organisations implementing EMAS 

1. Legal compliance 

Organisations must be able to demonstrate that they 

•  have  identified,  and  know  the  implications  to  the  organisation  of,  all  relevant 

environmental legislation, 

•  provide for legal compliance and 

* 

•  have  procedures  in  place  that  will  enable  the  organisation  to  meet  these 

requirements on an ongoing basis. 

2. Performance 

Organisations must be able to demonstrate that the management system and the audit 
procedures  address  the  actual  environmental  performance  of  the  organisation  with 
respect  to the aspects identified  from  Annex VI  and that performance  evaluation  is 
considered  as part of the review process. The organisation must  also commit to the 
continual improvement of its environmental performance. 

3. External communication 

Organisations must be able to demonstrate  an open  dialogue with  interested  parties 
including local communities and customers with regard to the environmental  impact 
of their activities, products and services in order to identify stakeholders' concerns. 

3? 

ANNEX II 

Requirements concerning internal environmental auditing 

2.1 General Requirements 

Internal  audits  ensure  that  the  activities  carried  out  by  an  organisation  are being 
conducted  in accordance with established procedures. The audit may  also  identify 
any problems with those established procedures or any opportunities for improving 
those procedures. The scope of audits carried  out within  an organisation may vary 
from  the audit of a simple procedure to the audit of complex activities. Over a period 
of  time  all  activities  in  a particular  organisation  will  be  subject  to  an  audit.  The 
period of time taken to complete audits of all activities is known as the audit cycle. 
For small non-complex organisations, it may be possible to audit all activities at one 
time. For these organisations the audit cycle is the interval between these audits. 

Internal audits shall be carried out by persons sufficiently  independent of the activity 
being audited to ensure an impartial view. They may be carried out by employees of 
the  organisation  or  by  external  parties  (employees  from  other  organisations, 
employees from other parts of the same organisation or consultants). 

2.2 Objectives 

The  organisations  environmental  auditing  programme  will  define  in  writing  the 
objectives of each audit or audit cycle including the audit frequency for each activity. 

The  objectives  must  include,  in  particular,  assessing  the  management  systems  in 
place, and determining conformity with organisation's policy and programme, which 
must include compliance with relevant environmental regulatory requirements. 

2.3 Scope 

The overall scope of the individual audits, or of each stage of an audit cycle where 
appropriate, must be clearly defined and must explicitly specify the: 

1. subject areas covered; 

2. activities to be audited; 

3. environmental standards to be considered; 

4. period covered by the audit. 

Environmental  audit  includes  assessment  of the  factual  data necessary  to  evaluate 
performance. 

2.4 Organisation and resources 

Environmental  audits  must  be  performed  by  persons  or  groups  of  persons  with 
appropriate  knowledge of the  sectors  and fields audited,  including knowledge and 
experience  on  the  relevant  environmental,  management,  technical  and  regulatory 
issues,  and  sufficient  training  and proficiency  in  the  specific  skills  of  auditing  to 

• ft 

achieve the stated objectives. The resources and time allocated to the audit must be 
commensurate with the scope and objectives of the audit. 

The top organisation management shall support the auditing. 

The auditors shall be sufficiently  independent of the activities they audit to make an 
objective and impartial judgement. 

2.5 Planning and preparation for an audit 

Each audit will be planned and prepared with the objectives, in particular, of: 

- 

- 

ensuring the appropriate resources are allocated, 

ensuring that each individual involved  in the audit process (including auditors, 
management, and staff) understands his or her role and responsibilities. 

Preparation will include familiarisation  with activities of the organisation  and with 
the environmental management system established there and review of the  findings 
and conclusions of previous audits. 

2.6 Audit activities 

Audit  activities  will  include  discussions  with  personnel,  inspection  of  operating 
conditions  and  equipment  and reviewing  of records, written  procedures  and  other 
relevant  documentation,  with  the  objective  of  evaluating  the  environmental 
performance  of  the  activity  being  audited  to  determine  whether  it  meets  the 
applicable standards, regulations or objectives and targets set and whether the system 
in place to manage environmental responsibilities is effective  and appropriate. Spot-
checking  of  compliance  with  these  criteria  may  be  used  to  determine  the 
effectiveness  of the system. 

The following steps, in particular, will be included in the audit process: 

(a) understanding of the management systems; 

(b) assessing strengths and weaknesses of the management systems; 

(c) gathering relevant evidence; 

(d) evaluating audit findings; 

(e) preparing audit conclusions; 

(f) reporting audit findings and conclusions. 

2.7 Reporting audit findings and conclusions 

1. A written audit report of the appropriate form and content will be prepared by the 
auditors to ensure full,  formal  submission of the findings  and conclusions of the 
audit, at the end of each audit and audit cycle. 

The findings  and conclusions of the audit must be formally  communicated to the 
top organisation management. 

Lu 

2. The fundamental objectives of a written audit report are: 

(a) to document the scope of the audit; 

(b) to provide management with information on the state of compliance with the a 
organisations'  environmental  policy  and  the  environmental  progress  at  the 
organisation; 

(c) to provide management with information on the effectiveness  and reliability of 
the arrangements for monitoring environmental impacts of the organisation; 

(d) to demonstrate the need for corrective action, where appropriate. 

2.8 Audit follow-up 

The audit process will culminate in the preparation and implementation of a plan of 
appropriate corrective action. 

Appropriate mechanisms must be in place and in operation to ensure that the audit 
results are followed up. 

2.9  Audit frequency 

The frequency with which any activity is audited will vary depending upon the 

(a) nature, scale and complexity of the activities; 

(b) significance of associated environmental impacts 

(c) importance and urgency of the problems detected by previous audits; 

(d) history of environmental problems. 

More complex  activities with a greater risk of environmental harm will be audited 
more frequently. An organisation  shall  define  its own audit  programme  and  audit 
frequency  taking account of Commission guidance. 

AI 

ANNEX III 

Environmental Statement 

3.1 Introduction 

The  aim  of  the  environmental  statement  is  to  provide  environmental  information 
regarding the environmental impact and performance of the organisation. It is also a 
vehicle to address the stakeholder requirements identified as a result of Annex I B 3 
and  considered  as  significant  by  the  organisation  (Annex  VI 4  d).  Although  the 
organisation  is not required  to produce  the information  detailed  in 3.2  in  a single 
report it is important that this information  can be presented in a clear and coherent 
manner in hard copy to those who have no other means of obtaining this information. 

3.2 Environmental statement 

Upon its first registration an organisation shall produce environmental  information, 
to  be  referred  to  as  the  environmental  statement,  to  be  validated  by  the 
environmental verifier.  This information  must be submitted to the competent body 
following validation, and then be made publicly available. 

The minimum requirements for this information shall be as follows: 

a)  A clear and unambiguous description of the organisation registering to EMAS 
and a summary of its activities, products and services and its relationship to any 
parent organisations as appropriate 

b)  The environmental policy of the organisation 

c)  A  description  of all the significant  environmental  impacts of the organisation 

and an explanation of the nature of that impact 

d)  A  description  of  the  environmental  objectives  and  targets  in  relation  to  the 

significant environmental impacts 

e)  A summary of the data available on the performance of the organisation against 
its  environmental  objectives  and  targets  with  respect  to  its  significant 
environmental impacts 

f)  Other factors regarding environmental performance 

g)  The name and accreditation number of the environmental verifier and the date of 

validation 

3.3 Maintenance of publicly available  information 

The organisation must update the information  detailed in 3.2 yearly and shall have 
any changes validated yearly by an environmental verifier. After validation changes 
shall also be submitted to the competent body and be made publicly available. 

3.4 Publication of information 

Organisations may wish to address specific audiences with the information generated 
by its environmental management system and use only selected information from the 
information  published  by  an 
environmental  statement.  Any  environmental 

u 

organisation  can  bear  the  EMAS  logo  provided  it  has  been  validated  by  an 
environmental verifier as being: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

Accurate and non deceptive 

Substantiated and verifiable 

Relevant and used in an appropriate context or setting 

Representative  of 
organisation 

the  overall  environmental  performance  of  the 

(e) 

Unlikely to result in misinterpretation 

and makes reference to the environmental statement from which it was drawn. 

3.5 Local accountability 

Organisations  registering  to  EMAS  may  wish  to  produce  one  corporate 
environmental  statement  covering  a number of different  geographic  locations. The 
intention  of  EMAS  is  to  ensure  local  accountability  and  thus  organisations  must 
ensure  that  where  sites  have  significant  environmental  impacts  these  are  clearly 
identified and reported within the corporate statement. 

3.6 Public availability 

The information generated in 3.2 a-g which forms the environmental statement for an 
organisation and the updated information specified in 3.3 must be publicly available. 
This does not mean that an organisation must publish and print one single document 
and  distribute  it  on  request.  Organisations  are  encouraged  to  use  all  methods 
available  (electronic  publication,  libraries  etc.)  The  organisation  must  be  able  to 
demonstrate  to  the  environmental  verifier  that  individuals  with  an  interest  in  the 
organisations  environmental  performance  can  easily  and freely gain  access  to the 
information required in 3.2 a-g and 3.3. 

3.7 Performance reporting 

The raw data generated by an environmental management system will be used in a 
number of different ways to show the environmental performance of an organisation. 
If an organisation uses environmental performance  indicators (e.g. energy usage per 
tonne of product), it must ensure that any performance indicators it selects: 

a)  Give an accurate appraisal of the organisations performance 

b) Are understandable and unambiguous 

c) Allow for year on year comparison of an organisations performance 

d) Allow for comparison with sector, national or regional benchmarks as appropriate 

e) Allow for comparison with regulatory requirements as appropriate. 

43 

ANNEX IV 
ANNEX IV 

Logo 
Logo 

P.M. 
P.M. 

ANNEXV 

Accreditation, supervision  and function of the environmental  verifiers 

5.1  General 

The accreditation  of environmental verifiers  shall be based on the following  general 
principles  of  competence.  Accreditation  bodies  may  choose  to  accredit  individuals, 
organisations  or both,  as  environmental  verifiers.  The  procedural  requirements  and 
detailed  criteria  for  accrediting  environmental  verifiers  are  defined  according  to 
Article  4  of  this  Regulation  by  national  accreditation  systems  in  conformity  with 
these  principles.  It  will  be  ensured  through  the  peer  review  process  established  by 
Article 4. 

5.2 Requirements for the accreditation environmental  verifiers 

5.2.1. The following  competence  constitutes the minimum  requirements  with  which 

a verifier,  individual or organisation, shall comply: 

•  Knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  Regulation,  relevant  standards  and 
guidance issued by the Commission, under Article 4  and  14, for  the use  of 
this Regulation 

•  Knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  legislative,  regulatory  and  other 

policy requirements  relevant to the activity subject to  verification 

•  Knowledge and understanding of environmental issues 

•  Knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  technical  aspects,  relevant 

to 

environmental issues, of the activity subject to  verification 

•  Understanding  of  the  general  functioning  of  the  activity  subject  to 
verification  in  order  to  assess  the  appropriateness  of  the  management 
system 

•  Knowledge and understanding of environmental  auditing requirements  and 

methodology 

•  Knowledge of information  audit (Environmental  Statement) 

In  addition,  the  verifier  shall  be  independent,  impartial  and  objective  in 
performing his activities. 

5.2.2. Scope of accreditation 

The  scope  of  accreditation  of  environmental  verifiers  shall  be  defined 
according  to  the  classification  of  economic  activities  (NACE  codes)  as 
established by Council Regulation (EEC) No 761/93 (OJ No L83 03.04.1993). 
The  competence  and  size of the scope  of  accreditation  of the verifier  shall  be 
commensurate  to  the  size  and  complexity  of  the  organisation  to  be  verified. 

6<T 

5.2.3  Additional  requirements  for  the  accreditation  of  individual  environmental 

verifiers performing verifications on their own. 

Individual  environmental  verifiers  performing  verification  on  their  own,  in 
addition to complying with the requirements of 5.2, shall have: 

•  all the necessary  competence  to perform  verifications,  in their  accredited 

fields, 

•  a limited scope of accreditation dependant on their personal competence. 

Compliance with these requirements will be ensured through the  supervisory 
role of the accreditation body. 

5.3 Supervision of environmental verifiers 

5.3.1  Supervision  of  accredited  environmental  verifiers  by  the  accreditation  body 

which granted their accreditation 

the. 
The  accredited  environmental  verifier  must 
accreditation body of all changes which have bearing on the accreditation or its 
scope. 

immediately 

inform 

Provision  shall  be  made,  at  regular  intervals  not  exceeding  12  months,  to 
ensure that the accredited environmental verifier continues to comply with the 
accreditation  requirements  and  to  monitor  the  quality  of  the  verifications 
review  of 
undertaken.  Supervision  may  consist 
environmental  statements  validated  by  the  verifiers,  review  of  verification 
report, witnessing in organisations. It should be proportionate with the activity 
undertaken by the verifier. 

in  questionnaires, 

Any  decision  taken  by  the  accreditation  body  to  terminate  or  suspend 
accreditation or curtail the scope of accreditation shall be taken only after  the 
accredited environmental verifier has had the possibility of a hearing. 

5.3.2  Supervision of accredited  environmental  verifiers  by the accreditation body of 

the Member States where the verification takes place 

A  verifier  accredited  in  one  Member  State,  before  performing  verification 
activities in another Member State, shall only provide to the accreditation body 
of the latter Member State, at least four weeks in advance, notification  of: 

•  his accreditation details, and team composition if appropriate 

•  when and where the verification  will  occur: address and  contact  details of 
the organisation, measures taken to deal with legal and language knowledge 
if necessary 

This notification shall be communicated before each new verification. 

The accreditation body shall not require other conditions which would prejudice 
the right of the verifier to provide services in another Member State than the one 

U 

where accreditation was granted. It shall not also use the notification  procedure 
to delay the venue of the verifier. Any difficulty  to supervise the verifier on the 
date communicated shall be adequately justified. 

If the supervising accreditation body is not satisfied with the quality of the work 
done by the verifier,  the supervision report  shall be transmitted  to the  verifier 
concerned,  the  accreditation  body  which  granted  the  accreditation,  to  the 
competent body where the organisation being verified  is located and the forum 
of accreditation body. 

5.4 The function of verifiers 

5.4.1. The function  of the verifier  is to check, without prejudice to the enforcement 

powers of Member States in respect of regulatory requirements: 

a)  compliance  with  all  the  requirements  of  this  Regulation:  initial 
environmental  review  if  appropriate,  environmental  management  system, 
environmental audit programme and the environmental statement 

b) the reliability of the data and information in: 

•  The environmental statement (Annex III 3.2 and 3.3) 

•  Extracts from the environmental statement (Annex III 3.4) 

•  Environmental information (Article 8.3) 

r 

The verifier will, in particular, investigate in a sound professional  manner, the 
technical validity of the initial environmental review, if appropriate, or audit or 
other  procedures  carried  out  by  the  organisation,  without  unnecessarily 
duplicating those procedures. 

5.4.2.  At  the  time  of  the  first  verification,  the  environmental  verifier  shall,  in 
particular, check that the following requirements are met By the organisation: 

•  A fully  operational  environmental  management  system  in accordance with 

Annex I 

•  A  fully  planned  audit programme, which  had  already begun  (At  least one 
audit  performed  of  the  activity  with  the  highest  environmental  risk)  in 
accordance with Annex II 

•  Completion of one management review 

•  The preparation of an environmental statement in accordance with Annex III 

3.2 

i 

5.4.3. Legal compliance 

The verifier  should  establish  that  an organisation  has procedures  in place to 
control  those  aspects  of  its  operations  subject  to  relevant  Community  or 
national laws and that these procedures are capable of delivering compliance. 
The  checks  of  the  audit  will,  in  particular,  provide  for  evidence  on  the 
capability of the procedures in place to deliver legal compliance. 

The  verifier  should  not  validate  the  environmental  statement,  if  during  the 
verification  process  he  observes,  for  example  through  spot-checks,  that  the 
organisation is obviously not in legal compliance. 

5.4.4. Organisation definition 

When  verifying  the  EMS  and  validating  the  environmental  statement,  the 
verifier  shall  ensure 
the  organisation  are 
unambiguously defined and corresponds to a real division of the activities. The 
content  of  the  statement  shall  clearly  cover  the  different  parts  of  the 
organisation to which EMAS applies. 

the  components  of 

that 

5.5 Conditions for the verifier to perform his activities 

5.5.1.  The  verifier  will  operate  on  the  basis  of  a  written  agreement  with  the 
organisation  which  defines  the  scope  of  the  work,  enables  the  verifier  to 
operate in an independent professional manner and commits the organisation to 
providing the necessary co-operation. 

5.5.2.  The  verification  will  involve  examination  of  documentation,  a  visit  to  the 
organisation including, in particular, interviews with personnel, preparation of 
a report  to the organisations'  management  and the organisations'  solution of 
the issues raised by the report. 

5.5.3. The documentation to be examined in advance of the visit will include basis 
information  about  the  organisation  and  activities  there,  the  environmental 
policy  and  programme,  the  description  of  the  environmental  management 
system  in  operation  in  the  organisation,  details  of  the  previous  initial 
environmental review or audit carried out, the report on that review or audit 
and  on  any corrective  action  taken  afterwards,  and the draft  environmental 
statement. 

5.5.4.The  verifier  shall  prepare  a  report  for  the  organisations'  management.  This 

report shall specify: 

(a)  all issues relevant to the work carried out by the verifier 

(b)  the  starting  point  of  the  organisation  towards  implementation  of  an 
environmental management system 

(c) in general, cases of non-conformity  with the provisions of this Regulation, 
and in particular; 

*+ 

tâ 

• 

technical  defects  in the initial  environmental  review,  or  audit  method, or 
environmental management system, or any other relevant process; 

•  points  of  disagreement  with  the  draft  environmental  statement,  together 
with  details  of  the  amendments  or  additions  that  should  be  made  to  the 
environmental statement 

(d)  the  comparison  with  the  previous  statements  and  the  performance 
assessment of the organisation. 

5.6 Verification  frequency 

The  verifier  shall  at  intervals  not  exceeding  12  months  validate  any  updated 
information  in  the  environmental  statement.  In  addition,  in  consultation  with  the 
organisation  he  will  design  a programme  to  ensure  that  all  elements  required  for 
registration  to  EMAS  are  verified  in  a  period  not  exceeding  36  months.  The 
frequency  of the visits of the environmental  verifier  to  the organisation  shall  take 
into account Commission guidance. 

ANNEX VI 

Environmental aspects 

6.1 General 

In  order  to  decide  on  its  significant  environmental  impacts  an  organisation  shall 
consider all environmental aspects of its activities, products and services and decide 
on  the  basis  of  criteria,  defined  by  the  organisation,  which  of  its  environmental 
aspects have a significant impact. 

An organisation  shall consider both direct and indirect environmental aspects of its 
activities, products and services. 

6.2 Direct environmental aspects 

These cover the activities of an organisation over which it has management control 
and are local to the organisation and may include but is not limited to 

a) emissions to air 

b) releases to water 

c) waste management. 

d) contamination of land 

e) use of natural resources and raw materials (including energy) 

f)  local-issues (noise, vibration, odour, visual appearance, etc.) 

g) transport issues (both for goods and services and employees) 

In  assessing  the  significance  of  the  environmental  impacts  of  these  activities  the 
organisation shall think not only of normal operating conditions but also of start up 
and  shut  down  conditions  and  of  reasonably  foreseeable  emergency  conditions. 
Account shall be taken of past, present and planned activities, products and services. 

6.3 Indirect environmental aspects 

As a result of the activities, products and services of an organisation there may be 
significant  environmental impacts over which it does not have management control 
or occur at a distance from the organisation. 

These may include but are not limited to 

a) product  related  issues  (design,  packaging,  transportation,  use  and  waste 

recovery/disposal) 

b) capital investments, granting loans and insurance services 

c) new markets 

d) choice and composition of services (e.g. transport or the catering trade) 

e)  administrative and planning decisions 

so 

f)  product range compositions 

In  addition,  organisations  must  be  able  to  demonstrate  that  the  significant 
environmental  aspects  associated  with  their  procurement  procedures  have  been 
identified  and that  significant  impacts  associated  with  these  aspects  are  addressed 
within the management system. 

The  environmental  aspects  shall  be  relevant  within  the  framework  of  the 
environmental  programme,  the  environmental  management  system  and  the 
environmental audit insofar as the organisation has set itself objectives. 

In the  case  of these indirect environmental  aspects  an organisation  should  consider 
how much influence it can have over these aspects, and what measures can be taken 
to reduce the impact. 

6.4  Significance 

It  is  the  responsibility  of  the  organisation  to  define  criteria  for  assessing  the 
significance  of the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services. It is 
not  intended  that  a detailed  life  cycle  analysis  is  carried  out  however  the  criteria 
developed  by  an  organisation  should  be  comprehensive,  capable  of  independent 
checking, and reproducible. 

Considerations  in  establishing  the  significance  of  an  organisation's  environmental 
aspects may include but is not limited to: 

a)  identification  of activities, products and services of the organisation's operations, 
the  specific  environmental  aspects  associated with those  activities, products and 
services, and the type of impact related to each environmental aspect. 

b)  collection  of  information  about  the  condition  of  the  environment  to  identify 
activities, products and services  of the organisation  that may have  an impact on 
specific conditions. 

c)  assessment  of  the  organisation's  existing  data  on  material  and  energy  inputs, 

discharges, wastes and emissions data in terms of  risk. 

d) identification  of the views of stakeholders and the use of this information to help 

establish the organisation's significant environmental aspects. 

e)  identification of environmental activities of the organisation that are regulated, for 

which data have likely been collected by the organisation. 

f)  identification  of procurement  activities that are significant  in terms of the direct 

and indirect environmental impacts of the organisation 

g)  consideration  of the design, development,  manufacturing,  distribution,  servicing, 

use, re-use, recycling and disposal of the organisation's products. 

h) identification  of  those  activities  of  the  organisation  with  the  most  significant 

environmental costs, benefits or other financial effects. 

51 

ANNEX VII 

Initial Environmental Review 

7.1 General 

An  organisation  with  no  existing  environmental  management  system  recognised 
under  Article  9  must  initially  establish  its  current  position  with  regard  to  the 
environment by means of a review. The aim should be to consider all environmental 
aspects of the organisation as a basis for establishing the environmental management 
system. 

7.2 Requirements 

The review should cover four key areas: 

a)  legislative and regulatory requirements; 

b) an identification of significant environmental aspects; 

c)  an  examination  of  all  existing  environmental  management  practices  and 

procedures; 

d) an evaluation of feedback from the investigation of previous incidents 

In all cases, consideration should be given to normal and abnormal operations within 
the organisation, and to potential emergency conditions. 

A  suitable  approach  to  the  review  may  include  checklists,  interviews,  direct 
inspection  and measurement, results of previous audits or other reviews depending 
on the nature of the activities. 

The  process  to  identify  the  significant  environmental  aspects  associated  with  the 
activities at operating units should where relevant, consider 

a)  emissions to air 

b) releases to water 

c) waste management 

d) contamination of land 

e) use of raw materials and natural resources 

f)  other local environmental and community issues 

This process  should  consider normal  operating  conditions, shut-down  and  start-up 
conditions,  as  well  as  the  realistic  potential  significant  impacts  associated  with 
reasonably foreseeable or emergency situations. 

The process is intended to identify significant  environmental aspects associated with 
activities, products  or  services  and  is not  intended  to  require  a detailed  life  cycle 
assessment. Organisations do not have to evaluate each product, component or raw 

material  input.  They  may  select  categories  of  activities,  products  or  services  to 
identify those aspects most likely to have a significant impact. 

4r 
53 

ANNEX Vin 

Registration Information 

Minimum Requirements 

Name of the organisation 

Address of the organisation 

Contact person 

NACE code of activity 

Number of employees 

Name of the verifier 

Accreditation number 

Scope of accreditation 

Date of the next environmental statement 

Name and contact details of the competent enforcement authority for the organisation 

Done at  on../../199 

Sijmature of the representative of the 
organisation 

% 

EVALUATION FORM OF IMPACT 

IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL ON THE FIRMS AND, IN PARTICULAR, ON THE 
SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SME) 

Title  of  the  proposal :  Proposal  for  Council  Regulation  (EC)  allowing  voluntary 
participation  by  organisations  in  a  Community  eco-management  and  audit  scheme 
(EMAS) 

Number of reference of the document : 

The Proposal 

1. 

In view of the principle of subsidiarity, why legislation communautaire is necessary 
in this field and are so its main goals ? 

The impact on the companies 

2.  Who will be affected by the proposal ? 

-  which sectors of companies : all 

-  which sizes of companies (share of the small and medium-sized enterprises) : all 

-  exists  there  individual  geographical  areas  in  the  community  where  these 

companies are established. : no specific geographical locations 

3.  What measures will companies have to take to conform to the proposal ? 

Implementation on a VOLUNTARY basis of an environmental management system 

4.  Which economic effects is the proposal likely to have ? 

-  on employment : creation 

-  on 

investments  and  the  creation  of  new  companies :  development  of 

environmental investments 

-  on the competitiveness of the companies : increase in competitiveness 

5.  Does the proposal contain measures aiming to take account of the specific  situation 
of the small and medium-sized enterprises (reduced or different requirements, etc) ? 

The situation of SMEs is taken into specific  account by providing them with means 
to support them in the VOLUNTARY implementation of this instrument. 

Consultation 

6.  List of the organisations which were consulted on the proposal and statement of the 

essential elements of their position. 

UEAPME,  UNICE,  ETUC,  EEB :  cf.  table 
memorandum. 

in  annex  of  the  explanatory 

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ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(98) 622 final 

DOCUMENTS 

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14  08  15  04 

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