Assistance to organisations relating to compliance with legal requirements relating to the environment
1. Member States shall ensure that organisations get access to information and assistance possibilities regarding legal requirements relating to the environment in that Member State.
2. The assistance shall include the following:
(a)
information regarding the applicable legal requirements relating to the environment;
(b)
identification of the competent enforcement authorities for specific legal requirements relating to the environment that have been identified as being applicable.
3. Member States may confer the tasks referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 to the Competent Bodies or to any other body having the necessary expertise and the appropriate resources to fulfil the task.
4. Member States shall ensure that enforcement authorities reply to requests, at least from small organisations, on the applicable legal requirements relating to the environment that fall within their competence, and provide information to the organisations on the means of showing how the organisations meet relevant legal requirements.
5. Member States shall ensure that competent enforcement authorities communicate a failure by registered organisations to comply with applicable legal requirements relating to the environment to the Competent Body which has registered the organisation.
The competent enforcement authority shall inform that Competent Body as soon as possible and in any case within one month after it has become aware of the failure.
Promotion of EMAS
1. Member States shall, in conjunction with Competent Bodies, enforcement authorities and other relevant stakeholders, promote the EMAS scheme taking into account activities referred to in Articles 34 to 38.
2. To that end, Member States may establish a promotion strategy which shall be revised on a regular basis.
Information
1. Member States shall take appropriate measures to provide information to:
(a)
the public about the objectives and principal components of EMAS;
(b)
organisations about the contents of this Regulation.
2. Member States shall, where appropriate, use professional publications, local journals, promotion campaigns or any other functional means to increase general awareness of EMAS.
Member States may cooperate, in particular, with industrial associations, consumer organisations, environmental organisations, trade unions, local institutions and other relevant stakeholders.
Promotion activities
1. Member States shall carry out promotion activities for EMAS. These activities may include:
(a)
the promotion of the exchange of knowledge and best practices on EMAS among all concerned parties;
(b)
the development of effective tools for EMAS promotion and to share them with organisations;
(c)
the provision of technical support to organisations in the definition and implementation of their EMAS-related marketing activities;
(d)
the encouragement of partnerships among organisations for EMAS promotion.
2. The EMAS logo without a registration number may be used by Competent Bodies, Accreditation and Licensing Bodies, national authorities and other stakeholders for EMAS-related marketing and promotional purposes. In such cases, use of the EMAS logo set out in Annex V shall not suggest that the user is registered where this is not the case.
Promotion of participation of small organisations
Member States shall take adequate measures to encourage the participation of small organisations, inter alia, by:
(a)
facilitating access to information and support funds specially adapted to them;
(b)
ensuring that reasonable registration fees encourage their participation;
(c)
promoting technical assistance measures.
Cluster and step-by-step approach
1. Member States shall encourage local authorities to provide, in participation with industrial associations, chambers of commerce and other concerned parties, specific assistance to clusters of organisations to meet the requirements for registration as referred to in Articles 4, 5 and 6.
Each organisation from the cluster shall be registered separately.
2. Member States shall encourage organisations to implement an environment management system. They shall in particular encourage a step-by-step approach leading to EMAS registration.
3. Systems established pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 shall operate with the objective of avoiding unnecessary costs for participants, in particular for small organisations.
EMAS and other policies and instruments in the Community
1. Without prejudice to Community legislation, Member States shall consider how registration under EMAS in accordance with this Regulation can be:
(a)
taken into account in the development of new legislation;
(b)
used as a tool in the application and enforcement of legislation;
(c)
taken into account in public procurement and purchasing.
2. Without prejudice to Community legislation, notably competition, taxation and State aid legislation, Member States shall, where appropriate, take measures facilitating organisations to become or remain EMAS registered.
Those measures may include, inter alia , the following:
(a)
regulatory relief, so that a registered organisation is considered as being compliant with certain legal requirements relating to the environment laid down in other legal instruments, identified by the competent authorities;
(b)
better regulation, whereby other legal instruments are modified so that burdens on organisations participating in EMAS are removed, reduced or simplified with a view to encouraging the efficient operation of markets and raising the level of competitiveness.
Fees
1. Member States may charge fees taking into account the following:
(a)
the costs incurred in connection with the provision of information and assistance to organisations by the bodies designated or set up to that end by Member States pursuant to Article 32;
(b)
the costs incurred in connection with the accreditation, licensing and supervision of environmental verifiers;
(c)
the costs for registration, renewal of registration, suspension and deletion by Competent Bodies as well as the additional costs of administering those processes for organisations outside the Community.
Those fees shall not exceed a reasonable amount and shall be proportionate to the size of the organisation and to the work to be done.
2. Member States shall ensure that organisations are informed about all applicable fees.
Non-compliance
1. Member States shall take appropriate legal or administrative measures in case of non-compliance with this Regulation.
2. Member States shall put in place effective provisions against the use of the EMAS logo in violation of this Regulation.
Provisions put in place in accordance with Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market ( 12 ) may be used.
Information and reporting to the Commission
1. Member States shall inform the Commission of the structure and procedures relating to the functioning of the Competent Bodies and Accreditation and Licensing Bodies and shall update that information, where appropriate.
2. Every two years, Member States shall report to the Commission updated information on the measures taken pursuant to this Regulation.
In those reports, Member States shall take account of the latest report presented by the Commission to the European Parliament and to the Council pursuant to Article 47.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
