Pan-european union assessment of EMAS implementation

Abstract

The European Union's (EU's) Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is one of the EU's few market base instruments discussed in the Fifth Environmental Action Programme. EMAS has been operational since April 1995 and site registrations across the EU stood at 1500 on 31 March 1998. Built into the regulation is a five-year review which is being conducted in 1998. To help inform the review process the European Commission co-funded a pan-European study into the implementation status of the regulation. This paper discusses the quantitative results of the study, focusing on the implementation experiences of EMAS-registered sites across the EU. The study used a five-part telephone questionnaire designed to collect quantitative data on the different implementation experiences of, among others, registered sites. Sites were randomly selected for interview from population data provided by the EMAS Help Desk. The study identified the benefits accrued to EMAS-registered sites, their implementation process, areas where EMAS required more support, the use made of the EMAS environmental statements and the opinions of respondents on the use of EMAS in conjunction with products. The study also identified key differences between the implementation experiences of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger enterprises. The paper reports the results of the study and concludes by considering the efficacy of EMAS as a market-based tool, the ways in which the current review might improve its operation and the significance of EMAS as an EU policy instrument. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.