Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are tools for any organisation – enterprise or public authority – to manage the impact of its activities on the environment. An EMS integrates environmental management into an organisation’s daily operations, long-term planning and other quality control mechanisms. Implemented EMS can show contracting authority the technical capacity of the supplier whereas performing contract the threat for environment arises and the measures need to be taken to protect it.

There are two main EMS in the EU - International standard on environmental management EN/ISO 14001 and Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The EU has developed its own environmental management tool – EMAS - to evaluate, report and improve environmental performance. Originally restricted to companies in industrial sectors, EMAS has since 2001 been extended to all economic sectors.

EMAS is the EU voluntary instrument which acknowledges organisations that improve their environmental performance on a continuous basis. EMAS registered organisations are legally compliant, run an environment management system and report on their environmental performance through the publication of an independently verified environmental statement. They are recognised by the EMAS logo, which guarantees the reliability of the information provided. EMAS was created in 1993 and renewed by Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on 19 March 2001 allowing voluntary participation of organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS). Participation is voluntary and extends to public or private organisations operating in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA).

European and international standard EN/ISO 14001 was first published in 1996. The standard was created by International Organization for Standardization (ISO). EN/ISO 14001 applies to any organisation working in the industry sector. It is supported by two conceptions: continual improvement and compliance with the requirements.

EMAS is similar to ISO 14001. However it claims higher requirements – to conduct an environmental review considering all environmental aspects of the organisation’s activities, products and services; to provide a statement of its environmental performance which lays down the results achieved against the environmental objectives and the future steps to be undertaken in order to continuously improve the organisation’s environmental performance; to involve actively employees into EMAS implementation. EN/ISO 14001 requires carrying out an environmental audit, but doesn’t define its frequency and methodology as particularly as EMAS does. Moreover, EN/ISO doesn’t determine to what level the efficiency of environment should be improved. EMAS determines that the organisation should seek “to minimize the impacts on the environment to the level that can be reached by using economically justified the best available types of production”.

As a part of EMAS scheme all member countries have created independent verification mechanisms. With the help of these mechanisms independent verifiers authorized by accreditation institutions inspect how the statements comply with the rules of the EMAS regulation and confirms the information. The confirmation has to be registered by the Competent Body assigned by a member country. The Competent Body in Lithuania is the Agency of Environment (http://aaa.am.lt).

The list of registered organisations in the EU and EEA countries are on a regular basis presented to the European Commission. This list can be found on the internet website http://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas. Unfortunately Lithuanian organisations don’t exist in this list yet.

Being a correspondent member of the ISO, Lithuanian Standards Board under the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania provides information to the ISO about certified management systems. The lists of certified management systems are available on the internet website of the Lithuanian Standards Board (http:// www.lsd.lt). There are about 300 organisations possessing EN/ISO 14001 certificates at the moment.