The European Commission, DG XXIII, has published a call for tender in relation to the identification of means to facilitate the participation of SMEs in an Environmental Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) (Regulation No 1836/93). The Commission intends to contract the services for the co-ordination of a pilot action carried out throughout the 15 Member States by a network of approximately 50 consultants.

The objectives of the pilot action are:

• To develop a European-wide applicable methodology to assist SMEs seeking to establish environmental management systems and to be registered under Regulation No 1836/93 on the voluntary participation in an Environmental Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), of 29 June 1993 (OJ L 168 of 10 July 1993);
• To assist participating pilot SMEs in the design and implementation of environmental management systems that satisfy the requirements of the regulation;
• To identify and analyse problems, opportunities and adjustment needs for SMEs resulting from the implementation of the EMAS regulation and to present a report to the Commission on structural and other measures needed on regional, national and European level to facilitate participation of SMEs in the EMAS scheme, including an assessment of the need for revision of the regulation.

The network of consultants will be selected by the Commission on the basis of a second call for tenders to be launched in late 1995 and will be requested to advise SMEs on environmental management and audit schemes on the basis of the European-wide applicable methodology.

Each consultant will execute a seminar for SME managers, will design individual environmental management systems with 10 to 15 SMEs and will analyse the adjustment needs of SMEs to fulfil the requirements of the Eco-Audit regulation (Phase 1).

In a second step each consultant will assist at least 1 of these SMEs in the implementation of an environmental management system and its registration under the Eco-Audit scheme (Phase 2).

• EMAS Manual for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
• The result of the European Union´s largest EMAS project is now available free of charge as "Model Manual Eco Audit for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises".
• The European coordinator ZENIT developed this model manual for the implemtation of EMAS in cooperation with its Belgian partner Yellow Window especially for the target group SMEs. The manual is based on the experience made in the EUROMANAGEMENT Environment Pilot Action which was carried out in 1996/1997 by 51 consultants and 543 SMEs in all EU member states. Within the framework of this project more than 140 companies all over Europe were guided to a successful validation of their environmental management system by means of a method developed by ZENIT and Yellow Window. The project was funded by Directorate General XXIII of the EU Commission.
• The manual which was developed on the basis of this experience includes a practice-orientated guideline for the implementation of the eco-audit as well as a variety of tested model instruments. It is available free of charge as a download document in English (tools), French (tools) and German (tools)

Zenit

YELOWW WINDOW