Commission staff working document accompanying the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) - Summary of the impact assessment {COM(2008) 402 final} {SEC(2008) 2121}
Date: 2008-07-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European organisation, environmental monitoring, environmental protection, environmental standard, management audit, management information system

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.7.2008 
SEC(2008) 2122 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and 
audit scheme (EMAS) 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

{COM(2008) 402 final} 
{SEC(2008) 2121} 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Regulation  (EC)  N°  761/2001  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  19  March 
2001  allows  voluntary  participation  by  organisations  in  a  Community  Eco-management  and 
audit scheme (EMAS). EMAS should be the highest standard for environmental management 
especially by setting the following requirements: 

•  compliance with environmental Regulations, 

•  environmental statement (= performance report), 

•  employee involvement and  

•  setting up and maintaining a validation procedure. 

These  requirements  can  provide  guarantees  of  continuous  improvement  in  environmental 
performance by participating organisations. They also offer the possibility to use participation 
to demonstrate compliance with environmental legislation.  

Regulation (EC) N° 761/2001 requires the Commission to review the scheme in the light of 
the experience gained during its 12 years of operation and propose appropriate amendments to 
the Regulations. 

The  EMAS  regulation  is  revised  with  a  view  to  meeting  the  objectives  of  the  Better 
Regulation  initiative,  developed  in  the  context  of  the  renewed  Lisbon  strategy  aiming  at 
simplifying  and  improving  existing  Regulation,  to  better  design  new  Regulation  and  to 
reinforce the respect and the effectiveness of the rules while reducing administrative burdens. 

The  revision  process  began  in  2005,  with  the  launching  of  a  large-scale  external  evaluation 
study on EMAS and Eco-label including a broad stakeholder consultation. 

The evaluation shows that at micro-level, EMAS is currently already achieving its objectives 
as it improves the environmental performance of participating organisations.  

However, at macro-level, the scheme has not reached its full potential in terms of diffusion. 
Even  though  EMAS  continues  to  grow  steadily  and  has,  at  the  beginning  of  2008,  almost 
6,000  registered  sites  in  the  EU,  it  is  still  covering  a  relatively  limited  number  of 
organisations. This is partially due to the scheme's unclear legislation, and its lack of focus on 
its real 'added-value' over and above similar schemes. 

Three general policy options have been identified and analysed: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

continuing with the present approach, 

phasing out the scheme, and  

substantially modifying the scheme. 

In  the  option  of  continuing  with  the  present  approach,  no  substantive  changes  will  be 
introduced to the scheme's content and level of ambition. The changes considered could only 
be of administrative / institutional nature, in order to make the current scheme run better. In 

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this option, only minor improvements can be expected because the underlying drivers of the 
low uptake of the scheme will not be remedied. 

The  option  of  phasing  out  the  scheme  aims  at  abolishing  EMAS  in  the  medium  term.  As 
with the option of keeping the system as it is, the overall environmental impact of this option 
will be negative. 

The  fact  that  the  underlying  drivers  of  the  low  uptake  of  the  scheme  are  identified  by  the 
studies and the stakeholder and public consultation, offers the possibility to remedy these. A 
substantial  modification  of  the  scheme  through  the  introduction  of  substantive  changes  is 
the only possible way to realise this. Because the original ideas behind EMAS remain valid 
from an environmental, economic, and EU policy perspective, it is proposed that this option 
should  be  pursued,  and  that  the  revised  EMAS  scheme  should  be  strongly  reinforced  and 
developed, in order to significantly increase its up-take and make it become a true, sizeable 
alternative  to  traditional  "command-and-control"-type  legislation.  EMAS  should  be  more 
business-friendly and help the EU achieve its overall environmental objectives. 

Even  though  a  number  of  the  measures  imply  budgetary  implications  for  Member  States  or 
the  European  Commission,  it  is  decided  to  introduce  these  measures  because  it  is  felt  that 
there is a clear net over-all benefit. 

To achieve these objectives, the revision of the EMAS Regulation should aim at essentially: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

ensuring  that  it  will  be  the  best  indication  of  environmental  performance  for 
external stakeholders and national enforcement authorities  

raising its attractiveness for participating organisations and 

increasing its user-friendliness, particularly for small organisations (SMEs and 
small public authorities). 

The table below shows the causes that have been identified as contributing to the low uptake of the scheme 
as well as the options for improvement that are considered in this document. 

underlying drivers of the problem 

options for improvement 

Measures aimed at ensuring that the scheme is the best indication 
for external stakeholders and national enforcement authorities as 
regards performance improvement and legal compliance. 

Lack  of  clarity  with  regard  to  the  applicable 
legal environmental requirements 

strengthening and ameliorating the rules on legal compliance 

harmonising and strengthening reporting by the introduction of: 

The  system  of  reporting  is  not  harmonised  or 
uniform 

- core performance indicators and 

- sectoral reference documents 

Procedures  for  accreditation  and  supervision  of 
verifiers are not harmonised 

harmonising  procedures  for  accreditation  and  supervision  of 
verifiers 

Measures  aimed  at  raising  the  attractiveness  of  the  scheme  for 
participating  organisations,  particularly  for  small  organisations, 
for  participating 
by 

the  administrative  burden 

reducing 

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Uneven promotion and marketing of the scheme 
in Member States 

Uneven support in the Member States of EMAS 
by  way  of  financial,  fiscal  and  market-related 
measures 

Organisational  and 
implementation of EMAS 

financial  barriers 

for 

Lack of clarity about the benefits of EMAS 

Coexistence  of  other  environment  management 
systems 

organisations  and  by  increasing  the  visibility  of  participation  in 
EMAS. 

increasing promotion and support for the scheme 

reducing burdens and creating incentives 

clarifying links and complementarities with other schemes 

Insufficient  integration  with  other  community 
policies / instruments 

creating  possibilities  for  operational  links  and  synergies  with  other 
EU legislation/instruments 

Limited geographical scope of EMAS 

making EMAS global 

Measures aimed at making the scheme more user-friendly 

Lack of clarity on how the system works 

re-writing text Regulation 

integration of Guidelines in the Regulation 

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