EMAS : Environmental management tool

Every economic agent's activities exert pressure on the environment. Industrial companies are no exception. As environmental awareness grew, they were identified as the main sources of pollution. Under pressure from public opinion, political decision-makers took restrictive measures against them, notably in the form of environmental legislation as extensive as it was varied, obliging organizations to take measures to protect the environment. Now obliged to take the environmental variable into account, companies developed tools enabling them to integrate the environment into their day-to-day management. They also quickly felt the need to share their environmental efforts and results with their stakeholders. The need for standardization became ever more pressing, and in 1993 Europe adopted the EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) regulation. . From that point onwards, companies that had developed an environmental management system (EMS) in line with the principles of the regulation could have it certified, and benefit from the efforts they had made in the environmental field.

Competing since 1996 with the ISO 14001 – international settlement counterparty –The European standard has been revised several times to improve it and reduce competition between the two systems.

The aim of this contribution is threefold: to highlight the similarities and differences between the regulation and the standard, to present the additional requirements imposed by EMAS for the development of EMS aimed at registration, and to identify the obstacles and benefits (managerial, economic and regulatory) arising from the implementation of such systems by organizations.

This update of the article incorporates the new features arising from the adoption of the latest version of the standard ISO 14001 based on a so-called "high level structure" (or HLS), common to all ISO management system standards.