ABSTRACT
The origins of the EMAS regulation (EC regulation 1836/93, O.J. 1993 No. L 168/1) go back to the 1970s when in North America, due to an increasing number of major accidents at industrial sites, stricter environmental regulations and liability cases, so called "compliance audits" were increasingly undertaken and became an instrument of voluntary selfcontrol for companies.1 By the 1980s eco audits were becoming increasingly popular in Europe as well. The publication of a paper by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 1989 represented the first attempt to standardise environmental audit procedures. In this paper the ICC recommended the use of environmental audits as an instrument of selfregulation for companies, as it would save costs, contribute towards better communications with interested parties and act as a confidence building measure. At the same time, the ICC pointed out that the procedure could be used to the full only if it was undertaken on a voluntary basis and the internal character of the audit maintained.2
