FAQ on EC's Proposed Revision to Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

July 17, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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 Environment Standards

This document provides answers to frequently asked questions about EMAS.

1. What is EMAS?
EU's voluntary Eco-Management and Audit Scheme is designed to recognize and reward proactive organizations that go beyond what environmental laws expect of them and that are constantly improving the way they interact with the environment.

Once an organization has proved that it is improving its environmental performance according to set objectives, as verified by an independent body, it can begin using the EMAS logo.

The logo is proof not only that the organization has set up a strict program of environmental performance improvements, but also that it respects existing environmental legislation and that its employees play a key role in the process.

EMAS came into force in 1995. In the beginning, it was limited to companies in the industrial sector, but the scheme's scope was widened in 2001, via Regulation (EC) No. 761/2001, to include public and private service providers as well as public sector organizations.

2. What are the benefits of EMAS?
As well as showing commitment to protecting the environment, which can improve their public image, organizations participating in EMAS achieve a better overall management of their activities. This often enables them to save money by reducing their consumption of resources and materials as well as their generation of waste.

The most common benefits of EMAS implementation are:

• Reduced costs, namely in the purchasing process through minimizing materials, energy consumption, water consumption and other business resources, in turn raising companies' profit margins.
• Reduced environmental risks, which can also turn into financial benefits resulting from trust by shareholders, investment companies, insurance companies and financial institutions.
• Increased (or maintained) competitiveness by being able to satisfy the environmental management requirements of a growing number of customers.
• Improved ability to comply with environmental legislation.
• Greater credibility - the EMAS logo and the verified environmental statement are proof of sound environmental management and concern for the general welfare of the community.
• Increased staff commitment - the involvement of employees in the implementation of the environmental management scheme is likely to reinforce the identification of staff with the company and increase their participation in the long-term development of the organization.

3. How does EMAS work?
EMAS is open to any organization dedicated to improving its environmental performance. The scheme does not prescribe how and by how much an organization should do so. EMAS is flexible in that organizations assess their own capabilities and set their own goals for improvement.

In defining these goals, the organization is helped by an external verifier to make sure it sets realistic targets. To become registered with EMAS, an organization must take the following steps:

• Conduct an environmental review of all its activities and assess them against existing environmental laws.
• Establish an environmental management system setting out its environment objectives and the means to achieve these objectives.
• Carry out an internal environmental audit assessing the management system in place and compliance with relevant environmental regulatory requirements.
• Provide a statement outlining its environmental policy, program and management system, and summarizing its environmental performance with the results achieved and the steps necessary for future improvements.

The environmental review, management system, audit and statement must be approved by an accredited verifier and sent to the appropriate competent body for registration. The environmental statement must be made public before an organization is allowed to use the EMAS logo.

4. Why is the scheme being revised?
EMAS now has more than 6,000 registered sites in a wide range of economic sectors, but this number is not as high as it could be, given the millions of organizations throughout the EU. The aim of revising EMAS is to increase participation and encourage more organizations to commit to improving their environmental performance.

The objective is to turn EMAS into the best indicator to measure improvements in environmental performance and compliance with environmental legislation.

Nearly all organizations that have taken part in the scheme have significantly improved their environmental performance, and most of these consider that the benefits of joining EMAS far outweigh the investments needed to set up the system. This sometimes involves important changes within the organization, including mobilizing staff and obtaining the services of environmental consultants and auditors.

5. How will the scheme change?
EMAS will remain essentially voluntary and the scheme will continue to be based on a standard environmental management system, as embodied in the ISO 14001 standard.

In addition, there will be elements strengthening the obligation to comply with the system and reinforced environmental reporting, using core performance indicators to report on energy efficiency, material efficiency, water, waste emissions and biodiversity. A system of reference documents, on a sectoral basis, will be developed to promote best practices in environmental management.

The fact that the benefits of EMAS outweigh the investment involved in implementing it has not always been clear to organizations. The EC's proposal seeks to make the scheme more attractive to organizations and to make its benefits for the environment and the organization itself clearer.

The aim is to increase the participation of companies and reduce the administrative burden and costs to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The measures to improve EMAS proposed by the EC include:

• Greater promotion and support for EMAS by EU member states and institutions to increase awareness of its benefits among organizations and citizens. This includes financial support; fiscal measures; registration subsidies or tax breaks for registered organizations; longer permit validity; and less frequent inspections by environmental enforcement agencies of EMAS-registered companies.
• A harmonized system throughout the EU with a single set of rules.
• Extending EMAS to the rest of the world so that companies can use EMAS in their contacts with non-EU organizations.
• Making use of the EMAS logo easier and allowing it to be more widely used.
• Simplifying the legislation to make it easier to understand how the scheme works and what the obligations of EMAS participation are.

6. Why is there need for action at the EU level?
Organizations, especially those in the private sector, have activities that often extend far beyond national or EU borders. Action is thus taken at the EU level to provide organizations with one harmonized system applicable throughout the EU. Non-EU organizations will also be able to participate in EMAS.

7. When will these proposals take effect?
It is expected that a revised EMAS regulation will be adopted in 2009 and will enter into force at the beginning of 2010.

Participation in EMAS by EU Member State

Participation in EMAS by Industrial Sector

Participation in EMAS by Service Sector

For more information, see the EMAS web site.

Source: European Commission.