Article 1 The eco-management and audit scheme and its objectives
1. A Community eco-management and audit scheme allowing voluntary participation by organisations, hereafter referred to as ‘EMAS’, is hereby established for the evaluation and improvement of the environmental performance of organisations and the provision of relevant information to the public and other interested parties. 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 as described in Annex I; (b) the systematic, objective and periodic evaluation of the performance of such systems as described in Annex I; (c) the provision of information on environmental performance and an open dialogue with the public and other interested parties; (d) the active involvement of employees in the organisation and appropriate initial and advanced training that makes active participation in the tasks referred to under (a) possible. Where they so request, any employee representatives shall also be involved.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation: (a) ‘environmental policy’ shall mean an organisation's overall aims and principles of action with respect to the environment including compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements regarding the environment and also a commitment to continual improvement of environmental performance; the environmental policy provides the framework for setting and reviewing environmental objectives and targets; (b) ‘continual improvement of environmental performance’ shall mean the process of enhancing, year by year, the measurable results of the environmental management system related to an organisation's management of its significant environmental aspects, based on its environmental policy, objectives and targets; the enhancing of the results need not take place in all spheres of activity simultaneously; (c) ‘environmental performance’ shall mean the results of an organisation's management of its environmental aspects; (d) ‘prevention of pollution’ shall mean use of processes, practices, materials or products that avoid, reduce or control pollution, which may include recycling, treatment, process changes, control mechanisms, efficient use of resources and material substitution; (e) ‘environmental review’ shall mean an initial comprehensive analysis of the environmental issues, impact and performance related to activities of an organisation, (Annex VII); (f) ‘environmental aspect’ shall mean an element of an organisation's activities, products or services that can interact with the environment, (Annex VI); a significant environmental aspect is an environmental aspect that has or can have a significant environmental impact; (g) ‘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; (h) ‘environmental programme’ shall mean a description of the measures (responsibilities and means) taken or envisaged to achieve environmental objectives and targets and the deadlines for achieving the environmental objectives and targets; (i) ‘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; (j) ‘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; (k) ‘environmental management system’ shall mean the part of the overall management system that includes the organisational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the environmental policy; (l) ‘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 an impact on the environment; (ii) assessing compliance with the environmental policy, including environmental objectives and targets of the organisation (Annex II); (l) ‘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 an impact on the environment; (ii) assessing compliance with the environmental policy, including environmental objectives and targets of the organisation (Annex II); (m) ‘audit cycle’ shall mean the period of time in which all the activities in an organisation are audited, (Annex II); (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 competences referred to in Annex II, point 2.4 and being sufficiently independent of the activities they audit to make an objective judgment; (o) ‘environmental statement’ shall mean the information detailed in Annex III point 3.2 ((a) to (g)); (p) ‘interested party’ shall mean an individual or group, including authorities, concerned with or affected by the environmental performance of an organisation; (q) ‘environmental verifier’ shall mean any person or organisation independent of the organisation being verified, who has obtained accreditation, in accordance with the conditions and procedures referred to in Article 4; (r) ‘accreditation system’ shall mean a system for the accreditation and supervision of environmental verifiers operated by an impartial institution or organisation designated or created by the Member State (accreditation body), with sufficient resources and competency and having appropriate procedures for performing the functions defined by this Regulation for such a system; (s) ‘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 as an organisation under EMAS shall be agreed with the environmental verifier and, where appropriate, the competent bodies, taking account of Commission guidance, established in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2), but shall not exceed the boundaries of one Member State. The smallest entity to be considered shall be a site. Under exceptional circumstances identified by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2), the entity to be considered for registration under EMAS may be smaller than a site, such as a sub-division with its own functions. (s) ‘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 as an organisation under EMAS shall be agreed with the environmental verifier and, where appropriate, the competent bodies, taking account of Commission guidance, established in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2), but shall not exceed the boundaries of one Member State. The smallest entity to be considered shall be a site. Under exceptional circumstances identified by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2), the entity to be considered for registration under EMAS may be smaller than a site, such as a sub-division with its own functions. (t) ‘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; (u) ‘competent bodies’ shall mean the bodies designated by Member States, whether national, regional or local, in accordance with Article 5, to perform the tasks specified in this Regulation.
Article 3 Participation in EMAS
1. EMAS shall be open to the participation of any organisation dedicated to improving its overall environmental performance. 2. In order for an organisation to be registered under EMAS it shall: (a) Conduct an environmental review of its activities, products and services in accordance with Annex VII addressing the issues contained in Annex VI and, in the light of the results of that review, implement an environmental management system covering all the requirements referred to in Annex I, in particular the compliance with the relevant environmental legislation. However, organisations which have a certified environmental management system, recognised according to the requirements of Article 9, do not need to conduct a formal environmental review when moving on to EMAS implementation, if the necessary information for the identification and evaluation of the environmental aspects set out in Annex VI is provided by the certified environmental management system. (a) Conduct an environmental review of its activities, products and services in accordance with Annex VII addressing the issues contained in Annex VI and, in the light of the results of that review, implement an environmental management system covering all the requirements referred to in Annex I, in particular the compliance with the relevant environmental legislation. However, organisations which have a certified environmental management system, recognised according to the requirements of Article 9, do not need to conduct a formal environmental review when moving on to EMAS implementation, if the necessary information for the identification and evaluation of the environmental aspects set out in Annex VI is provided by the certified environmental management system. (b) carry out, or cause to be carried out, environmental auditing in accordance with the requirements set out in Annex II. The audits shall be designed to assess the environmental performance of the organisation; (c) prepare, in accordance with Annex III, point 3.2, an environmental statement. The statement shall pay particular attention to the results achieved by an organisation against its environmental objectives and targets and the requirement of continuing to improve its environmental performance, and shall consider the information needs of relevant interested parties; (d) have the environmental review, if appropriate, management system, audit procedure and environmental statement examined to verify that they meet the relevant requirements of this Regulation and have the environmental statement validated by the environmental verifier to ensure it meets the requirements of Annex III; (e) forward the validated environmental statement to the competent body of the Member State in which the organisation seeking registration is located and, after registration, make it publicly available. 3. In order for an organisation to maintain registration to EMAS it shall: (a) have the environmental management system and audit programme verified in accordance with the requirements of Annex V, point 5.6; (b) forward the yearly necessary validated updates of its environmental statement to the competent body and make them publicly available. Deviations from the frequency with which updates shall be performed can be made under circumstances laid down in Commission guidance adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2), in particular for small organisations and small enterprises according to Commission Recommendation 96/280/EC ( 7 ) and when there is no operational change in the environmental management system.
Article 4 Accreditation system
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 or 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 12 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. Environmental verifiers accredited in one Member State may perform verification activities in any other Member State in accordance with the requirements laid down in Annex V. The start of the verification activity shall be notified to the Member State in which it is being performed and the activity shall be subject to supervision by the latter's accreditation system. 6. 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. 7. The Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2), promote collaboration between Member States in order, in particular, to avoid inconsistency between Annex V and the criteria, conditions and procedures which the national accreditation bodies apply for the accreditation and supervision of environmental verifiers to ensure a consistent quality of environmental verifiers. 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 paragraph (7). It shall meet at least once per year in the presence of a representative of the Commission. The forum shall as appropriate develop guidance on issues in the field of accreditation, competence and supervision of environmental verifiers. Guidance documents produced shall be submitted to the procedure laid down in Article 14(2). 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 shall be transmitted to the Commission which shall forward it for information to the Committee referred to in Article 14(1) and make it publicly available.
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, in particular 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. 3. Member States shall have 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 under EMAS. It shall therefore control the entry and maintenance of organisations on the register. 5. Competent bodies from all Member States shall meet, at least once per year in the presence of a representative of the Commission. The objective of these meetings is to ensure the consistency of procedures relating to the registration of organisations under EMAS, including suspension and deletion of registration. A peer review process shall be put in place by the competent bodies for the purpose of developing a common understanding of their practical approach towards registration. A report of the peer review activities shall be transmitted to the Commission which shall forward it for information to the Committee referred to in Article 14(1), and make it publicly available.
Article 6 Registration of organisations
Registration of organisations shall be dealt with by competent bodies on the basis of the following cases: 1. If a competent body — has received a validated environmental statement and — has received a completed form, which includes at least the minimum information set out in 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, and in particular through inquiries made at the competent enforcement authority regarding the compliance of the organisation with the relevant environmental legislation, 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. 1. If a competent body — has received a validated environmental statement and — has received a completed form, which includes at least the minimum information set out in 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, and in particular through inquiries made at the competent enforcement authority regarding the compliance of the organisation with the relevant environmental legislation, 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. 2. If a competent body receives a supervision report from the accreditation body which gives evidence that the activities of the environmental verifier were not performed adequately enough to ensure that the requirements of this Regulation are met by the applicant organisation, registration shall be refused or suspended as appropriate until assurance of the organisation's compliance with EMAS is obtained. 3. 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, which includes at least the minimum information set out in 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. 3. 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, which includes at least the minimum information set out in 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. 4. 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. If a competent body is informed by the competent enforcement authority of a breach by the organisation of relevant regulatory requirements regarding environmental protection, it shall refuse registration of that organisation or suspend it from the register as appropriate. 4. 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. If a competent body is informed by the competent enforcement authority of a breach by the organisation of relevant regulatory requirements regarding environmental protection, it shall refuse registration of that organisation or suspend it from the register as appropriate. 5. 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. 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. 6. Refusal or suspension shall be lifted if the competent body has received satisfactory information that the organisation is in compliance with the requirements of EMAS or if it has received satisfactory information from the competent enforcement authority that the breach has been rectified and that the organisation has made satisfactory arrangements with the aim of ensuring that it does not recur.
Article 7 List of registered organisations and environmental verifiers
1. The accreditation body shall establish, revise and update a list of environmental verifiers and their scope of accreditation in their 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 and to the competent body. 2. The competent bodies shall establish and maintain a list of registered organisations in their Member State and update this list on a monthly basis. 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 and may organise a system of information exchanges by economic sector and area of competence in the network of delegated local bodies. 3. The register of 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 set out in Annex IV only if they have a current EMAS registration. Technical specifications regarding the reproduction of the logo shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2) and published by the Commission. 2. The EMAS logo may be used by organisations in the following cases: (a) on validated information as described in Annex III, point 3.5, under circumstances defined in Commission guidance adopted under the procedure laid down in Article 14(2) which shall ensure that there is no confusion with environmental product labels (version 2 of the logo, as given in Annex IV, shall be used in this case); (b) on validated environmental statements (version 2 of the logo, as given in Annex IV, shall be used in this case); (c) on registered organisations' letterheads (version 1 of the logo, as given in Annex IV, shall be used in this case); (d) on information advertising an organisation's participation in EMAS (version 1 of the logo, as given in Annex IV, shall be used in this case); (e) on or in adverts for products, activities and services, only under circumstances defined in Commission guidance adopted in accordance with Article 14(2) which shall ensure that there is no confusion with environmental product labels. 3. The logo shall not be used in the following cases: (a) on products or their packaging, (b) in conjunction with comparative claims concerning other products, activities and services. The Commission shall however, as a part of the evaluation provided for in Article 15(3), consider under which exceptional circumstances the logo may be used and, for these cases, shall adopt rules in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2) which shall ensure that there is no confusion with environmental product labels.
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(2); (b) the accreditation requirements for the certification bodies are recognised by the Commission acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2). The references of the recognised standards (including the relevant sections of EMAS to which they apply) and recognised accreditation requirements shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities . 2. To enable organisations referred to in paragraph 1 to be registered under EMAS, the organisations concerned shall demonstrate to the environmental verifier compliance with requirements not covered by the recognised standards.
Article 10 Relationship with other environmental legislation in the Community
1. EMAS shall be without prejudice to: (a) Community law, or (b) national laws or technical standards not governed by Community law and (c) the duties of organisations under those laws and standards regarding environmental controls. 2. Member States should consider how registration under EMAS in accordance with this Regulation may be taken into account in the implementation and enforcement of environmental legislation in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort by both organisations and competent enforcement authorities. Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken in this regard. The Commission shall transmit the information received from Member States to the European Parliament and to the Council as soon as available and at least on a three-yearly basis.
Article 11 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 access to information, support funds, public institutions and public procurement, without prejudice to the Community rules governing public procurement, — establishing or promoting technical assistance measures, especially in conjunction with initiatives from appropriate professional or local points of contact (e.g. local authorities, chambers of commerce, trade or craft associations), — ensuring that reasonable registration fees encourage higher participation. In order to promote participation of SMEs, including those 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. SMEs may then use this in defining their environmental programme and setting the objectives and targets of their EMAS management system. In addition, programmes designed to encourage the participation of SMEs, such as a step by step approach which will eventually lead to EMAS registration, may be developed at regional or national level. The system shall operate with the objective of avoiding unnecessary administrative burden for participants, in particular small organisations. 2. In order to encourage organisations' participation in EMAS the Commission and other institutions of the Community as well as other public authorities at national level should consider, without prejudice to Community law, how registration under EMAS may be taken into account when setting criteria for their procurement policies. 3. Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken under this Article. The Commission shall transmit the information received from Member States to the European Parliament and to the Council as soon as available and at least on a three-yearly basis.
Article 12 Information
1. Each Member State shall take appropriate measures to ensure that: (a) organisations are informed of the content of this Regulation; (b) the public is informed of the objectives and principal components of EMAS. Member States shall, where appropriate, in cooperation with, amongst others, industrial associations, consumer organisations, environmental organisations, trade unions and local institutions, in particular use professional publications, local journals, promotion campaigns or any other functional means to promote general awareness of 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. It shall, in particular, examine in consultation with the members of the Committee referred to in Article 14(1) the possibility of disseminating best practice by appropriate ways and means.
Article 13 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.
Article 14 Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof. The period referred to in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months. 3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 15 Revision
1. The Commission shall review EMAS in the light of the experience gained during its operation and international developments no later than five years after the entry into force of this Regulation, and shall, if necessary, propose to the European Parliament and Council the appropriate amendments. 2. All the Annexes to this Regulation, with the exception of Annex V, shall be adapted by the Commission, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14(2) in the light of experience gained in the operation of EMAS and in response to identified needs for guidance on EMAS requirements. 3. The Commission shall in particular evaluate, in cooperation with the Member States, no later than 5 years after the entry into force of this Regulation, the use, recognition and interpretation, especially by the public and other interested parties, of the EMAS logo and assess whether there is a need to revise the logo and the requirements for its use.
Article 16 Costs and fees
1. A system of fees in accordance with arrangements 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 other related costs of EMAS. 2. Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken under this Article.
Article 17 Repeal of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93
1. Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 shall be repealed as from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, subject to paragraphs 2 to 5 of this Article. 2. National accreditation systems and competent bodies set up pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 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 12 months following the date of entry into force of this Regulation. 3. Environmental verifiers accredited in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 may continue to perform their activities in accordance with the requirements established by this Regulation. 4. Sites registered in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 will remain on the EMAS register. The new requirements of this Regulation shall be checked at the time of the next verification of a site. If the next verification is to be carried out sooner than 6 months after entry into force of this Regulation, the date of the next verification may be extended by 6 months in agreement with the environmental verifier and the competent bodies. 5. Paragraphs 3 and 4 shall also apply to environmental verifiers accredited and sites registered in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93, provided that the responsible accreditation bodies and competent bodies have agreed that the environmental verifiers and registered sites comply with all the requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 and notify this to the Commission.
Article 18 Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities . This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.