Framework

Is the main site, the Commission's administrative centre, with a range of buildings dominated by offices but including conference centres, catering facilities, storage depots, print shops, childcare, medical and sports facilities.

The Luxembourg site is of a similar nature, though smaller but also hosts the main data centres of the Commission and a small radiation protection laboratory operated by the DG for Energy.

The five Joint Research Centre (JRC) sites outside Brussels are all incorporated under EMAS. In contrast to Brussels and Luxembourg, these scientific sites mainly comprise unique research and technical infrastructures. More details on the different JRC sites can be found here and a summary is presented as follows.

• JRC Geel (Belgium) is recognised worldwide, both for being a major certified reference material (CRM) producer as well as for its nuclear activities with its two nuclear accelerators Gelina and Monnet. The site is also known for its expertise in metrology and standardisation in several fields (nuclear, health and food, transport and border security).
• JRC Ispra (Italy) is considered one of Europe's leading research campuses with many laboratories and research infrastructures, including a power plant, a fire station and a water treatment facility as well as over 100 heated buildings. There are also several nuclear installations on the site as described below.
  • Nuclear activities in long term shutdown, i.e. interrupted and included in the decommissioning programme (ESSOR – ESSais ORgel , Cyclotron, LCSR - Laboratorio Caldo Studi e Ricerche, STRR - Stazione Trattamento Rifiuti Radioattivi Liquidi). The ECO-FARO Esperienza Critica ORGEL Fuel Assemblies melting Oven installation was dismantled in 2014.
  • Installations where activities functional to the decommissioning programme are performed, e.g. radioactive waste management (Stazione Gestione Rifiuti Radioattivi, Stazione Trattamento Effluenti Liquidi, Tank farm, Intermim Storage Facility, Dry Wells) and nuclear fuel dismantling (Atelier Démantèlement Eléments Combustible).
  • Laboratories where research activities connected to nuclear safety and safeguards are performed (PERLA: PERformance LAboratory, PUNITA: PUlsed Neutron Interrogation Test Assembly).
• JRC Karlsruhe (Germany) is a self-contained site located in a research campus (KIT Campus Nord) on the outskirts of Karlsruhe, and the core of the JRC research for Nuclear Safety and Security. Research activities are conducted only in the nuclear field within the framework of the EURATOM treaty. They cover the following: fundamental properties and applications, safety of nuclear fuels and fuel cycle, nuclear waste management and decommissioning, monitoring of radioactivity in the environment, nuclear safeguards, nuclear non-proliferation and security (including trainings e.g. EUSECTRA).
• JRC Petten (The Netherlands) executes and manages institutional and competitive research activities to support European policy-making for energy, mobility and climate. In particular, for energy - ensuring sustainable, safe, secure and efficient energy production, distribution and use); for mobility - fostering sustainable and efficient mobility in Europe; and for climate - providing scientific and technical analysis to support to integrated air quality, climate and related policies.
• JRC Seville (Spain) provides socio-economic and techno-economic support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. It has advanced computing infrastructure. As an administrative building, it is similar in nature to the EMAS sites of Brussels and Luxembourg, with the added complexity of occupying rented premises.

DG SANTE site at Grange, Ireland is a purpose-built low level wooden clad structure dating from 2002 and set in countryside 45km north west of Dublin. It accommodates Directorate F, Health and Food Audits and Analysis, but was previously known as the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO). Many staff members are inspectors or auditors and travel frequently, and typically up to half may be away from the office at any one time.

The activities of the Houses of Europe are typically administrative, communication and public outreach activities, augmented by additional functions such as conference and meeting organisation, supporting the local activities of European Parliament Members (in the case of EPLOs), and similar. EMAS in 2021 started with the sites of Vienna (Austria) and Valletta (Malta). In 2022 the sites Budapest (Hungary) and Nicosia (Cyprus) were added. In 2023 the sites The Hague (the Netherlands), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Sofia (Bulgaria) were added. These sites are jointly managed with the European Parliament's Liaison Offices in buildings known as the Houses of Europe (HoE), data for the HoE are included in a separate Annex as a standalone document, due to their small size compared to the other sites and to the continuous increase of the number of sites during the years.

The EMAS site coordination team for Brussels is located in unit RE3 of the Office of Infrastructure for Brussels (OIB), the Office responsible for the facility management and building policy within the European Commission in Brussels. Site coordination is ensured by two full time staff members, who integrate a team of 11 responsible, among other files, for the buildings' energy performance and monitoring, environmental compliance of the EC buildings, inclusion of environmental criteria in tenders, namely concerning building works and prospecting the real estate market.

The EMAS site coordination team for Luxembourg is located in Unit O1 of the Office for Infrastructure for Luxembourg (OIL). The Office ensures that all activities associated with the housing of staff, the management of social welfare infrastructure and the logistics of the Commission in Luxembourg are carried out to the best standards. The site coordination is ensured by two and a half time staff members.

The EMAS Site Coordinators at each of the eight sites are EMAS coordination's team’s main contacts and responsible for implementing EMAS at the site level. They report on performance, contribute to the Environmental Statement and participate in preparing site level objectives and actions. The JRC EMAS Coordination ensures the harmonisation and coherence of the inputs of the five JRC sites, when applicable, as well as the interaction with the corporate coordination.

The EMAS Site coordination for the EC Representations is located in unit D2 of DG COMM, in charge of, inter alia, management of the Representations’ infrastructure. A full-time EMAS site coordinator is supported by a back-up, the project managers responsible for maintenance and works in individual sites and the internal communication team for staff engagement purposes. In the European Parliament, the site coordination for the Liaison Offices is integrated in the EMAS and Sustainability Unit attached to the Secretariat-General, supported by an EMAS representative in the Directorate-General for Infrastructure and Logistics. EMAS Site coordinators for Representations and Liaison Offices (EPLOs) ensure day to day coordination in liaison with EMAS coordinators in the Houses of Europe, composed of representatives of the Representation and EPLO.

Marc BECQUET, Director of Office for Infrastructure, Brussels

The mission of OIB is to ensure a functional, safe and comfortable workplace for Commission staff and to provide good quality support and well-being services, based on a client-oriented approach in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way. Main achievements of 2022 were the reduction in energy consumption, CO₂ emissions, office paper consumption, as well as further improvements in waste sorting. They bear witness of the continuous efforts put forward by the OIB through concrete actions in these areas.

Challenging times require extraordinary measures: through the recently adopted Communication on Greening the Commission, the Institution has set a clear target to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 60% compared with 2005 figures and to become climate neutral by 2030. This ambition will require significant efforts and investments to which the EC services and in particular the OIB will strongly contribute, in improving the Commission's environmental performance, this way striving towards a more sustainable European Union.

Marc BECQUET, acting Director for Office of Infrastructure and Logistics, Luxembourg

The mission of the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Luxembourg (OIL) is to ensure a safe and functional workplace for the staff and to provide services such as transport, office supplies administration, catering and after-school childminding services.

Since 2020, the focus has been on the action plan on Greening the Commission to reach corporate climate neutrality by 2030. In 2023, OIL main achievements were the move of the Publications Office and DG CNECT into the Mercier-Post building with a DGNB certification, and the implementation of the DCS (dynamic collaborative space) in Luxembourg. Moreover, thanks to the various measures taken, energy consumption has continued its downward trend.

Among other actions, OIL made steps towards circular economy by organizing for the first time the Interinstitutional Repair Café. Different actions in the mobility area were also a success, namely the mobility conference organised by OIL and the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works and Velomai at the CPE with the participation of Franck Schleck.

Finally, OIL continues to supervise the construction of the Commission’s main seat – Jean Monnet 2, which is the Commission’s most ambitious environmental-friendly real estate project in Luxembourg.

• Ispra

  • Rien Stroosnijder, responsible for site management, JRC Ispra

    EMAS is the most rigorous environmental management system available in Europe and is regarded as the premium standard for environmental excellence. Since early 2012, we have committed to the EMAS scheme, building on and extending our ISO 14001 certified management system. Our environmental policy aims to make sure that site operate in such a way that all activities, which have an environmental impact, are planned and executed in order to minimise damage to the environment, prevent pollution and improve environmental performance. Its implementation is only possible thanks to competent technical staff and strong engagement of all persons on site.

    The EMAS results for the European Commission Ispra site during 2023 went generally beyond the targets originally set, particularly due to the impressive work done to reduce our impact on the environment carried out in recent years. Ispra Site Management continued to promote and apply energy saving measures within a more efficient management approach. During 2023 the site's energy consumption decreased by almost 9% compared to the previous year (-20.4% gas consumption) while the contribution from renewable sources increased by 33% thanks to the increasing in use of “green” grid energy (+22.5%) as well as the increase in the energy produced by the PV plants (+30%). This has led to a decrease in CO₂eq emissions from energy consumption of about 20.5%.

    All the energy saving measures/activities put in place on the JRC-Ispra site are in line with the Communication on Greening the Commission that aims to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. This is how the Commission intends to implement the European Green Deal internally and thereby lead by example. Our ambitious targets will be supported by our environmental core indicators, which facilitate multi-annual comparability within and between organisations. In all this, a participatory approach and the engagement of staff are key, as is the exchange of best practices with host country authorities and transparent communication of our performance to them and the general public.

• Geel

  • Ciáran NICHOLL, Director of JRC Geel

    When JRC-Geel integrated EMAS in 2011, it vouched its commitment to implement an effective environmental management system, despite the challenges of housing and operating specialised EC laboratory infrastructures. Examples include two high energy consuming nuclear accelerators, a high-tech storage facility for reference materials, nuclear and non-nuclear laboratories with over/under atmospheric pressure requirements, etc.

    Each year, JRC-Geel monitors and looks at ways to further improve in reducing its environmental impact and complying with the ever-more stringent legal requirements set by the Flanders Region. Thanks to its BMS (Building Management System), JRC-Geel is able to measure and accurately monitor its EMAS indicators and this allows management to take informed decisions and define improvement actions.

    In an ageing site like JRC-Geel, real opportunity for saving energy resides in a refurbishment programme of buildings, including their insulation. To capitalise on this, JRC-Geel has launched an action plan with projects to consecutively renovate its facilities, including the deep refurbishment of one building according to the principles and values of the New European Bauhaus initiative. This action plan also seeks to integrate the present and future requirements of the respective JRC-Geel site’s scientific work programmes, all the way up to up to 2034. A temporary downside when implementing refurbishment, insulation jobs and clean up exercises is an inevitable waste increase which contributes to the carbon footprint balance.

    An avenue which still requires attention and improved directionality is travelling, despite the JRC commitment to do so.

    Finally, the JRC-Geel site is working to preserve and foster biodiversity by creating “natural habitats for fauna” and striving to map its biodiversity through different Bioblitz projects.

• Karlsruhe

  • Ulla ENGELMANN, responsible for site management, JRC Karlsruhe

    Among the JRC sites, Karlsruhe is unique, being in its entirety a nuclear research facility where continuous operation of energy-intensive systems is mandatory for ensuring nuclear and radiation safety at all times. Combining the very advanced EMAS goals with the realities of an aging infrastructure is not without challenges and major improvements require substantial investments. Pending the completion of our new state-of-the-art laboratory (Wing M) we have successfully optimised monitoring and operation of our old installations and thereby obtained tangible savings in energy consumption for heating and nuclear ventilation in 2022.

    JRC Karlsruhe will continue pursuing further environmental improvements in its own facilities in 2023. More globally, our research contributes to ensuring the safety and security of use of nuclear energy which many EU member states rely on as an established low-carbon technology contributing to climate change mitigation.

• Petten

  • Site management, JRC Petten

    On the JRC Petten site, the European Commission conducts scientific research and delivers technical support and administrative activities for partners in relation to energy, mobility and climate policies. Increasingly research is based on modelling studies, which generates a more administrative workload.

    The research is based on the results of laboratory work in facilities for hydrogen fuel cell testing, hydrogen storage tank testing and optimisation, battery testing and at several locations advanced material testing for nuclear and other high tech industries.

• Seville

  • Mikel Landabaso, Director Fair and Sustainable Economy, JRC Seville

    In a world that urgently needs to accelerate efforts to achieve the green transition, it is essential for the European Commission to lead by example in managing and enhancing its own environmental performance. The JRC Seville site is fully dedicated to this goal, and I am delighted that our indicators demonstrate our efforts to improve our site's environmental performance while ensuring optimal working conditions for our researchers. Additionally, we are integrating sustainability into our core business of providing scientific and technical advice for policy making, demonstrating that we are turning our commitment into action. Finally, I am pleased to report that we are making significant progress towards the construction of a new building for our JRC Seville site that will meet world-class environmental performance standards through innovative design, in line with the values and principles of the New European Bauhaus initiative.

Maria Pilar AGUAR FERNANDEZ, SANTE Dir. F Grange, Ireland

We are located in the lush, green farmland of County Meath, Ireland where cattle farming is the main activity although sheep are not an uncommon sight in the fields around us.

We are particularly conscious of the agricultural setting of our site and take steps to ensure that our activities do not have a negative impact on our neighbours and the local environment. We include EMAS compliance as a feature of all contracts and look at how services to our staff can be delivered in an eco-friendly way.

During 2022 we delivered a number of projects. In particular:

• We continued the replacement of old watt high consumption lights with new LED low watt consumption lights on different places in our site.
• Once again big sections of our grassland (±3.75 ha) were left to grow into meadows, in order to allow plants and flowers to grow and provide nectar for insects such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies. A winter plan was put in place (one section of the building was closed and staff moved in the remaining sections and sharing offices with other colleagues) and more or less 12 tonnes of CO2 were saved.

Pia RENKILDE-HANSEN, Director-General DG Communication

The EU institutions’ outposts in the Member States – the Commission Representations and the European Parliament Liaison Offices – joined the EMAS process in 2021. They are the institutions’ public face at local level, with the overarching mission to engage with all segments of society. As such, the Representations and Liaison Offices are in the prime position to demonstrate first-hand, to the 450 million citizens of the Member States in which they are located, the European institutions’ firm commitment to the protection of the environment.

As of today, the Commission and the Parliament joined forces to implement EMAS in Valletta (Malta), Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary) and Nicosia (Cyprus), whilst preparations are underway in Copenhagen (Denmark), Sofia (Bulgaria) and The Hague (Netherlands). This is done in the context of the so-called Houses of Europe, physical premises hosting the Commission Representations and the Parliament’s Liaison Offices in Member States.

The two-fold aim of the project is to reduce the environmental impact of the Houses of Europe and in doing so, also add credibility to the efforts of the European Union to lead change across Europe at large. The initiative is also the first known example of two European institutions implementing EMAS together, developing additional synergies and efficiencies, as well as a possible blueprint for others to follow.

The Brussels site comprises mostly office buildings (and supporting infrastructure), and therefore the main concerns are energy consumption and related emissions, as well as waste production. The impact of staff mobility (professional travel and commuting) is also important.

In Luxembourg, the activities are mainly of administrative nature, with some support and logistics services (such as catering, office supplies, childcare facilities, etc.) so broadly similar aspects to Brussels. But Luxembourg also hosts the main data centres of the Commission and a radiation protection laboratory.

• JRC Geel is registered as a "class 1 facility" for the Flemish Environmental License, meaning that it has significant environmental impact resulting from its activities in the nuclear and chemical/biological fields. As such, almost all the aspects mentioned under the EMAS objectives (Table Summary of significant environmental aspects) apply.
• At JRC Ispra, the environmental aspects and impacts are calculated on the basis of a site-procedure, which takes into consideration Probability (P) and Gravity (G) criteria to define whether an environmental aspect is significant or not.
• JRC Karlsruhe undertook the first full update of the environmental aspects in 2007. These are described in the Environmental Aspects Register (IMS-KRU-S6.6-RGS-0001). It is usually reviewed annually and updated, when necessary and most recently in May 2023. Significant impacts associated with four main aspect groups were identified, mainly concerning the use of resources, emissions and the generation of radioactive waste. Due to the mostly static character of site activities, these have remained unchanged for several years.
• In JRC Petten monitors the Environmental Aspects on site level by annually carrying out the Update of the Environmental Aspect Register on unit level. The 2023 results show that all six EMAS aspects are significant.
• In JRC Seville, the identified significant environmental aspects are related to offices used in rented premises. Business travels are considered under the corporate umbrella.

For DG SANTE at Grange, a study of the Grange environmental aspects was undertaken for the first time in 2014. Examination and evaluation of Grange's environmental aspects and impacts, both direct and indirect under normal, abnormal and emergency conditions was developed in 2017. The identification of environmental impacts takes account of the organisation’s current and past activities, products and/or services. This table is reviewed and updated every year. The last addition, as a direct consequence of Covid-19, has been the indicator regarding public health.

In DG COMM’s Representations, the activities are mainly of administrative nature, with some support and logistics services. The identified significant aspects reflect the Houses of Europe as a whole, including the EPLO.