The European legislation and the implementation of EMS and ENMS

Abstract

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and Energy Management System (EnMS) are two of the tools which, implicitly or explicitly, are promoted by the EU in order to achieve the targeted goals and objectives identified in the cross frontier legislation for environmental protection. Both management systems have requirements set by international standards (such as ISO 14001 and ISO 50001), by which an organization (or other “organizational entity”) may establish and implement Policies and Objectives for environment or energy, with the assumption of compliance with legal requirements and other requirements to which the organization subscribes. The European Directives were evolving over time, both in structure and in the form of expression. In the beginning of the last decade the key-concepts used were Policies, Community objectives and Action Programmes – all these being the principal elements of the Management systems, too. Later on, the European Directives started to promote equivalent terms for preventive actions, corrections and corrective actions for the noncompliance with critical limits stated by the relevant legislation. Moreover, we can find wording like: environmental aspects and impact analysis, emission monitoring and compliance with legal requirements, specific actions of the operational control, emergency plans and public communication. In some cases (e.g. waste management and energy efficiency), the European Directives have become very explicit in the recommendations they make regarding the utility of EMS and EnMS implementation, based on ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 international standards. Although the implementation of EMS and EnMS is a voluntary decision, the fact they are subject of recent recommendations of the European Directives shows the conviction that these Management systems represent effective tools in achieving commitments regarding environmental protection and pollution prevention or energy performance (energy efficiency, energy usage and energy consumption).