COM(2010)0006

The Commission presents a report on the incentives for EMAS registered organisations in the period 2004-2006.

Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 allowing voluntary participation by organisations in a Community Eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) establishes a system under which organisations evaluate, manage and continuously improve their environmental performance. It obliges Member States to promote organisations' participation in EMAS, in particular by considering how registration under EMAS may be taken into account when setting criteria for their procurement policies. The Regulation obliges the European Commission to transmit to the European Parliament and the Council information relating to the above described promotional activities received from Member States.

This report describes the types of incentive measures applied in different Member States and provides a resume of the findings for each group of indicators. It main purpose is to inform the European Parliament and the Council and to raise awareness of national authorities about different national practices.

The nature of the incentives provided by national authorities varies and depends on the aims pursued. Two main groups of incentives have been identified:

1) Regulatory flexibility aims at: simplifying and reducing the regulatory framework in cases of redundancy; removing procedural impediments; reducing the need to submit unnecessary and repetitive documents to the regulator; fostering responsible behaviour of operators.

A small increase of the regulatory flexibility has been detected. However, only four Member States (Germany, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom) apply incentives related to all three indicators defined and twelve Member States do not provide such incentives at all. Germany developed most legislative texts in this area. Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and United Kingdom developed different documents as well.

Cyprus, Czech Republic, France and Lithuania started developing different texts to give regulatory benefits to EMAS registered organisations.

As regards the application for permits or reduced reporting and monitoring requirements, some Member States foresee specific and limited situations where an EMAS registered organisation will have benefits. In most of these cases, reporting obligations are reduced or simpler procedures are available for permit applications in the fields of IPPC, waste management, landfill permits, water and emissions.

2) Promotional incentives in the framework:

· Information Support : this has increased over the period 2004-2006. The type of support ranged from publication of brochures, leaflets, newspapers and magazine articles to the organisation of events such as conferences or workshops. All Member States have at least one website providing information on EMAS. In general, all information material was specifically designed to inform about and promote EMAS. Information support measures for EMAS focus generally on EMAS registered organisations, but also measures specifically focussing on non EMAS registered organisations are in place. Contact with registered organisations was also frequent. Even though the information support incentives are available for all organisations, including SME's, some Member States provide incentives especially destined for SME's. As regards the budget dedicated to providing information support for EMAS, an increasing trend is apparent in a number of Member States.

· Funding Support : the number of texts related to EMAS funding increased slightly. The budget allocated to EMAS has increased remarkably with almost 400%. It was allocated to EMAS was used mainly for conferences and seminars and different events and for the elaboration of publications such as guide books, brochures, etc. In some cases, the budget also covered costs of the competent body. Special financial support for pilot projects, promotional programmes, environmental agreements, etc, has increased. It should also be noted that funding related incentives for EMAS registration in the form of reduction or absence of registration fees increased. Banks or insurance companies do not give advantages to EMAS registered organisations as a general policy. Lastly, no tax reductions on purchases designed to improve environmental performance were foreseen by Member States.

· Technical Support : technical support has increased in the period 2004-2006. Documents for technical assistance, such as manuals, guidelines, handbooks, etc. and of synergies involving all the actors in environmental management systems were created in the majority of Member States. Even though the majority of these documents and programmes were meant for all industry sectors, some Member States have developed manuals and guides for specific sectors such as hospitals, sports facilities and sports events; public services; the chemistry, food, pharmaceutical, electrical/electronic and other sectors; food and drinks and furniture sector. Specific guidance for local authorities was developed in some countries.

· Public Procurement : the number of documents related with public procurement increased significantly and documents have been developed in the vast majority of Member States. Legislative texts on public procurement have been developed in certain countries, whilst a wider amount of guidelines and documents have been adopted in other countries. In general, the documents reported by Member States relate to the greening of public procurement and despite the significant and increase in the number of documents they do not in all cases constitute a direct or clear benefit for EMAS registered organisations.

Conclusions : external incentives provided by national authorities, especially if they are based on targeted policies and programmes, can have a positive influence on the uptake of EMAS .

All Member States apply measures which provide external incentives for EMAS registered organisations . The fact that the business community still complains about the shortage of substantial measures is an indicator that there is potential for improvement.

In general, incentives are designed for the benefit of private organisations . However, EMAS is also available for public organisations and even though these are not mainly guided by economic considerations, it is relevant that Member States provide also incentives in this sector especially to local authorities, who can set the good example for others to follow.

The revision of the second EMAS Regulation in 2007-2009 represents a turning point for the scheme. One of the objectives of the revision is to strengthen the regulation in such a way that incentives are more prominent and Member States more inclined to provide for incentives. By strengthening the system of reporting on environmental performance and the mechanism guaranteeing organisations' compliance, regulators might be inclined to effectively provide for more incentives than is currently the case.

Member States have to develop policies on incentives together with long-term incentive programmes to encourage the best practices . The Commission will continue to provide the technical assistance and information support necessary for the implementation of EMAS in private and public organisations.

COM(2010)0006
EUR-Lex

SEC(2010)0059
EUR-Lex

There are two main objectives to this Commission Report. Firstly, to inform the European Parliament and Council on incentives offered to organisations registering on the EMAS scheme and secondly, to raise national authorities' awareness regarding differing national practices relating to EMAS. The Report not only fulfils the Commission obligation to prepare a study on EMAS as provided for in the EMAS Regulation, it is also acts as a useful information tool for policy makers and Commission officials preparing a revision of the EMAS Regulation.

EMAS itself incorporates a formal environmental management system (EN ISO 14001), although other les formal environmental management systems are available providing for different options for organisations wishing to rely on environmental accounting options. EMAS itself goes beyond EN ISO 14001 – indeed it sets much stricter requirements than other management structures, which may explain in part, the differences between the statistics collected for EMAS and EN ISO 14001 registrations and certifications. The Commission lists a number of reasons why EMAS is an attractive instrument for many organisations – both private and public. It offers, for example, a more sustainable use of resources, offers financial advantages, improves the public image of companies, reduces the risk of non-compliance with environmental legislation and offers proper risk management. Yet, in spite of these advantages, the Commission investigation into EMAS incentives indicates that the scheme is facing a number of challenges. They are:

The number of new registrations has declined over the last two years. The business community is particularly critical of the lack of external incentives. Most registered companies are located in only a few Member States. The scheme has been enlarged to all of the Member States, which joined in May 2004.

When assessing the conclusions of the Report, the Commission notes that the EMAS scheme is facing a number of challenges, which need to be addressed. The Commission suggests that Member States and national authorities could do more to ensure the success of EMAS. The report reveals that most Member States apply measures offering external incentives. Nevertheless, the fact that the business community regularly complains about the shortage of substantial measures seems to indicate that there is room for improvement. The fact that some Member States offer differing incentives – indeed differing schemes (EMAS or EN ISO 14001) is a sign that more co-ordination could be necessary. When preparing the study, the Commission also noted that, in general, incentives are designed to benefit the private sector to the neglect of the public sector. Given that EMAS is also available to public organisations, the Commission calls on national authorities to do more to offer this sector more encouragement – especially local authorities.

As far as the new Member States are concerned, the Commission study reveals that, with a couple of exceptions, incentives in the new Member States are negligible or even non-existent. The Commission urges those new Member States to do more to implement the regime – which they suggest is to their advantage given the huge body of environmental legislation they have or will soon incorporate into their national law. In any case the Commission will continue to offer assistance and support measure necessary for the implementation of EMAS in private and public organisations. Based, in part, on the findings of this Report, the Commission has launched a revision of EMAS, which will include looking at the legal requirements on incentives in order to strengthen their scope and efficiency. According to the Commission, the EMAS revision represents a turning point in the scheme as well as an opportunity to make incentives play a more crucial role. The Commission will seek to work closely with the national authorities and interested parties in order to encourage the most efficient management system.

COM(2004)0745
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