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About EMAS

About EMAS

What is EMAS? Who is it for? How does it work?

forest trees
© Unsplash Firosnv. Photography

The Objective

EMAS is an important tool within the framework of theCircular Economy Action Plan, one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal. Its goal is to drive organisations towards circularity and reduce their impact on the environment. The overall environmental performance of the organisation is improved and regularly verified through EMAS. 

This is achieved by:

  • Identifying their direct and indirect environmental impacts and establishing voluntary objectives and targets to reduce them
  • Establishing and implementing robust environmental management systems with the identified measures
  • Systematically evaluating their effectiveness and transparently reporting on environmental performance
  • Enhancing transparency by publishing their environmental statement and engaging in open dialogues with the public and stakeholders
  • Recognising their efforts by a third-party accredited environmental verifier
  • Fostering active employee involvement and providing training.

By embracing EMAS, organisations strive for continuous improvement of their environmental performance.

EMAS evolution

Timeline

  1. July 1993
    EMAS Regulation 1836/93
    • Introduced as an environmental policy tool devised by the European Commission as a step towards the goal of sustainable development. 
  2. April 1995
    EMAS opened for voluntary participation by organisations with sites operating industrial activities
  3. 1996
    The international environmental management system standard, EN ISO 14001:1996, was recognised as a step towards achieving EMAS
  4. 2001
    A revised Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 (EMAS II) was adopted
    • This broadened the scope of EMAS, introduced environmental core and performance indicators, and strenghtened the link between EMAS and ISO14001.
  5. 2009
    EMAS Regulation was revised and modified for the second time
    • Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 (“EMAS REGULATION”) was published on 22 December 2009.
  6. 2009
    With the EMAS Global mechanism, EMAS became available worldwide.
  7. 2013
    The EMAS User’s Guide was developed as a user-oriented tool that translates the EMAS Regulation into practical steps.
  8. 2017
    Revisions of the new ISO 14001:2015 standard were integrated into the annexes I to III of the EMAS Regulation
    • Having the ISO 14001 requirements Compared toEMAS within the new Annex II of The Regulation makes it easy for ISO 14001-certified organisations to upgrade their environmental management system to EMAS.
  9. June 2017
    The Fitness Check assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and EU added value of the EMAS Regulation
    • Click here to see the results.
  10. 2017
    The RAVE study followed up on the results of the Fitness Check and investigated EMAS’s potential to bring added value to authorities and organisations
    • Click here to learn more about key findings for stakeholders.
  12. 2019
    The Annex IV of the EMAS regulation EU Commission Regulation EU 2018/2026 was amended

EMAS Regulation

Find the latest version of the EMAS Regulation here.