ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the findings of the case studies on the selected Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) sites. It addresses the “design” of EMAS at the European Union level, because the decisions on the structure of this policy tool have undoubtedly had an important influence on how it has worked. EMAS was adopted in 1993 as an innovative policy tool and has been shown to be an instrument for improving the environmental performance of companies. Local authorities are different in the respect because the decision to implement EMAS can be influenced by the democratic decision-making process of local government. Participation in EMAS should be seen not only in respect of the implementation of the scheme as such, but also in respect of the everyday operations of the site management system in general. Larger companies had usually already developed a systemic capacity to address innovations of this kind before thinking about the implementation of EMAS.
