It establishes the eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), which is a voluntary premium environmental management tool for all kinds of organisations that are willing to evaluate, report on and improve their environmental performance.

KEY POINTS

The EMAS registration process

To receive EMAS registration, an organisation must:

conduct a review of all the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services;
adopt an environmental policy containing a commitment to comply with all the relevant legislation and to achieve continuous improvement of its environmental performance;
develop a programme with information on specific environmental objectives and targets;
establish an effective management system to achieve its environmental policy and ensure continuous improvement;
carry out an environmental audit assessing the management system in place and overall conformity with its policy and programme;
provide an environmental statement of its performance, set against its objectives, and the steps to be taken in the future.

Validation

The environmental review, management system, audit procedure and statement must be approved by an accredited environmental verifier.

The validated statement is registered and made publicly available.

Use of the EMAS logo

An organisation successfully completing all these stages may use the EMAS logo on its letterheads and in reference to its activities and services, to demonstrate its commitment to improving its environmental performance.

European Commission decisions

The European Commission has adopted a series of decisions in relation to Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009. They include:

Decision 2011/832/EU concerning a guide on European Union (EU) corporate registration, non-EU-country and global registration under Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009;
Decision (EU) 2016/1621 on a guidance document on notification to accreditation and licensing bodies by environmental verifiers active in an EU Member State other than that where the accreditation or licence was granted under Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009;
Decision (EU) 2023/2463 on the publication of the user’s guide, setting out the steps needed to participate in the EMAS.

The Commission has also adopted a further series of decisions on sectoral reference documents – concerning best environmental management practices, sector environmental performance indicators and benchmarks of excellence for:

the retail trade sector (Decision (EU) 2015/801);
the tourism sector (Decision (EU) 2016/611);
the food and beverage manufacturing sector (Decision (EU) 2017/1508);
the agriculture sector (Decision (EU) 2018/813);
the electrical and electronic equipment manufacturing sector (Decision (EU) 2019/63);
the car manufacturing sector (Decision (EU) 2019/62);
the public administration sector (Decision (EU) 2019/61);
the waste management sector (Decision (EU) 2020/519);
the fabricated metal products manufacturing sector (Decision (EU) 2021/2053);
the telecommunications and information and communication technologies services sector (Decision (EU) 2021/2054).

Amendments to the legislation

Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 has been amended three times.

Regulation (EU) No 517/2013 amended the regulation to take account of Croatia becoming a member of the EU in July 2013.
Regulation (EU) 2017/1505 amended Annexes I, II and III to take into account the requirements set out in the new version of the International Standard ISO 14001. Organisations wishing to obtain or maintain both EMAS registration and ISO 14001 certification often conduct a single integrated verification/certification process, so coherence between the requirements of these two instruments should be kept.
Regulation (EU) 2018/2026 amended Annex IV to address improvements identified from experience gained during the operation of EMAS. Given the number and nature of these amendments, in the interests of clarity it was considered appropriate to replace Annex IV in its entirety.

Repeal

Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 repeals Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 and Decisions 2001/681/EC and 2006/193/EC.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

It has applied since 11 January 2010.

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

Eco-management and audit scheme (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), repealing Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 and Commission Decisions 2001/681/EC and 2006/193/EC (OJ L 342, 22.12.2009, pp. 1–45).

Successive amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.