Scope:

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)

Regulation 66/2010 of the European Parliament and the Council on the EU Ecolabel

Evaluation findings:

The fitness check had a number of limitations: limited data available to quantify the schemes' impacts, the absence of a commonly agreed method to benchmark environmental performance of organisations and products, and the absence of quantified objectives in the Regulations concerning the expected uptake of the schemes.

The fitness check confirmed the useful – even if limited – role of the schemes as voluntary instruments for businesses that facilitate transition to a circular economy and provide information on environmental performance of products and organisations to consumers and in business to business transactions.

The fitness check results also showed that the uptake of the schemes could be better and more efficient. It identified clear limitations of the two instruments given their voluntary nature and the limited level of uptake for a number of product groups and the low awareness of the two schemes. There is a need for a more focused approach to maximize impacts on the ground. For EMAS, there is a question over its future relevance as ISO 14001, revised in 2015, increasingly adopts many, but not yet all its elements, and benefits from a much higher uptake.

Follow-Up by the Commission:

The Commission has adopted on the 30 June 2017 a report to the Parliament and the Council on the review of implementation of both Regulations.

The conclusion of this report includes the actions proposed by the Commission to improve the performance of the EU Ecolabel and to strengthen the added value of EMAS, in collaboration with the Member States.

The Commission is undertaking actions to implement the report’s REFIT conclusions.

For the EU Ecolabel, these actions focus on: the development of a more strategic approach for the EU Ecolabel (including in particular the identification of the product/service groups which are the most promising in terms of impact and uptake and on which the scheme should focus in the future), streamlining EU Ecolabel operations, the development and implementation of a communication strategy, and increasing of the role of the EU Ecolabel in public procurement as a benchmark for environmental excellence.

For EMAS the actions focus on increasing regulatory relief measures for EMAS registered organisations and on facilitating EMAS registration for SMEs, both actions being accompanied by targeted communication activities and capacity building activities, including identification of potential replicative measures for individual Member States, that increase the added value of EMAS registration.

Follow-Up by Member States:

The support and active contribution of the Member States to the implementation of proposed actions will be expected.

With regards to the EU Ecolabel, Member States involvement is particularly expected for the following actions:

- the development and implementation of a more effective communication strategy to increase EU Ecolabel uptake and consumer awareness of the label;

- the reduction of administrative and verification costs, simplification of the consultation process;

- increase in the role of the EU Ecolabel in public procurement and as a benchmark for environmental excellence;

- improvement in the consistency and integration between the EU Ecolabel and existing national/regional labels.

With respect to the EMAS Regulation the commitment and support of Member States will be a decisive factor for continuing the scheme. At the Council meeting of 19 December 2017 the Commission obtained confirmation of their commitment to:

- the continuation of the scheme and

- the implementation of measures supporting a better take-up.

The support and active collaboration of Member States will be expected in particular concerning the implementation of the following actions:

- Development of additional opportunities to use EMAS as a tool for decreasing administrative burden and regulatory relief.

- Use the compliance validation and transparency on environmental performance required by EMAS to facilitate the implementation of environmental policies under energy, emissions to air, biodiversity, water or waste management.

- Implementation of an effective communication strategy and promotional actions to increase the awareness of the scheme and its recognition as the “premium” environmental management scheme.

- Replication of the measures implemented by the Member States that achieved a significant number of EMAS registrations and were recognized as best practices.

- Ensure efficient reporting channels from organisations to authorities.