(July 11, 2017) The European Commission relies on the studies conducted at the Management Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa to evaluate the functioning and results of the EMAS environmental policy and to decide on its future. The EMAS Regulation is a benchmark for companies to obtain environmental certification of excellence as well as being one of the main tools for pursuing the so-called "circular economy". The European Commission has owned the results of the study conducted by a team of the Management Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, co-ordinated by Fabio Iraldo, a professor of sustainability management, in collaboration with Adelphi, a German consultancy based in Berlin . "The aim of our study - Iraldo explains - was to evaluate the effectiveness of the EMAS regulation 20 years after its release. The study, which involved a survey conducted across a panel of more than 460 European registered EMAS companies and various institutional actors such as the EMAS committees across several member countries, investigated the benefits of adopting the EMAS Regulation. The results have demonstrated the ability of this environmental certification to improve regulatory compliance management, reduce the risk of environmental accidents, and improve performance by achieving both environmental and economic targets such as lower energy consumption costs. " (Red)

ABOUT / THE BENEFITS

Also on the basis of the results of the study at the Management Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, the European Commission has decided to increase the added value of EMAS through greater involvement of Member States in achieving specific goals such as the adoption of Administrative simplifications and environmental legislation for certified EMAS companies. With these simplifications, EMAS organizations will thus be able to benefit from, for example, longer-term authorizations, better public appraisal, faster and more simple administrative procedures.