ANNEX

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.   INTRODUCTION

This document is a Sectoral Reference Document (SRD) established according to Article 46 of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) (1). With a view to facilitating the understanding of this SRD, this introduction provides an outline of its legal background and its use.

The SRD is based on a detailed scientific and policy report (2) (‘Best Practice Report’) developed by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), one of the seven institutes of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC).

Relevant legal background

The Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) was introduced in 1993, for voluntary participation by organisations, by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 (3). Subsequently, EMAS has undergone two major revisions:

An important new element of the latest revision, which came into force on 11 January 2010, is Article 46 on the development of Sectoral Reference Documents (SRDs). The SRDs have to include Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs), Environmental Performance Indicators for specific sectors and, where appropriate, Benchmarks of Excellence and rating systems identifying performance levels.

How to understand and use this document

The eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) is a scheme for voluntary participation by organisations committed to continuous environmental improvement. Within this framework, this Sectoral Reference Document (SRD) provides sector-specific guidance to the tourism sector and points out a number of options for improvement as well as best practices.

The document was written by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre using input from stakeholders. A Technical Working Group, comprising experts and stakeholders of the sector, led by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, discussed and ultimately agreed on the Best Environmental Management Practices, sector-specific Environmental Performance Indicators and Benchmarks of Excellence described in this document; these benchmarks in particular were deemed to be representative of the levels of environmental performance that are achieved by the best performing organisations in the sector.

The SRD aims to help and support all organisations that intend to improve their environmental performance by providing ideas and inspiration as well as practical and technical guidance.

This SRD is primarily addressed to organisations that are already registered with EMAS; secondly to organisations that are considering registering with EMAS in the future; and thirdly to all organisations that wish to learn more about best environmental management practices in order to improve their environmental performance. Consequently, the objective of this document is to support all organisations and actors in the tourism sector to focus on relevant environmental aspects, both direct and indirect, and to find information on Best Practices, appropriate sector-specific Environmental Performance Indicators to measure their environmental performance, and Benchmarks of Excellence.

How SRDs should be taken into account by EMAS registered organisations:

According to Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009, EMAS registered organisations shall take SRDs into account at two different levels:

EMAS participation is an ongoing process. This means that every time an organisation plans to improve its environmental performance (and reviews its environmental performance) it shall consult the SRD on specific topics to find inspiration about which issues to tackle next in a step-wise approach.

EMAS environmental verifiers shall check if and how the SRD was taken into account by the organisation when preparing its Environmental Statement (Article 18(5)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009).

This means that, when undertaking an audit, accredited environmental verifiers will need evidence from the organisation of how the relevant elements of the SRD have been selected in light of the Environmental Reviews and taken into account. They shall not check compliance with the described benchmarks of excellence, but they shall verify evidence on how the SRD was used as a guide to identify indicators and proper voluntary measures that the organisation can implement to improve its environmental performance.

Given the voluntary nature of EMAS and SRD, no disproportionate burdens should be put on the organisations to provide such evidence. In particular, verifiers shall not require an individual justification for each of the best practices, sector-specific Environmental Performance Indicators and Benchmarks of Excellence which are mentioned in the SRD and not considered relevant by the organisation in light of its Environmental Review. Nevertheless, they could suggest relevant additional elements for the organisation to take into account in the future as further evidence of its commitment to continuous performance improvement.

Structure of the sectoral reference document

This document consists of four chapters. Chapter 1 introduces EMAS' legal background and describes how to use this document, while Chapter 2 defines the scope of this SRD. Chapter 3 briefly describes the different Best Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs) together with information on their applicability, in general as well as at SME level. When specific Environmental Performance Indicators and Benchmarks of Excellence could be formulated for a particular BEMP, these are also given. Some of the indicators and benchmarks are relevant for more than one BEMP and are thus repeated whenever appropriate.

Finally, Chapter 4 presents a comprehensive table with a selection of the most relevant Environmental Performance Indicators, associated explanations and related Benchmarks of Excellence.

2.   SCOPE

This document addresses some of the activities specified in section I 55-56 ‘Accommodation and Food Service Activities’, section N 79 ‘Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities’ and section O 84.11 ‘General Public Administration Activities’ of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) (NACE Rev.2).

This sectoral reference document (SRD) primarily covers Best Environmental Management Practices within organisations that provide accommodation, food and beverage services, or that manage tourism destinations or offer and reserve travel, accommodation or activities for tourism (travel agents and tour operators) (7). Companies providing tourist accommodation services and campsite services are also invited to consult the relevant provisions of the EU Ecolabel (8). Destination managers may also refer to other EU initiatives promoting sustainable tourism management, such as, among others, the European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS) (9).

The actors mentioned above are interlinked with a variety of other sectors as portrayed in the tourism value chain diagram below. In terms of tourism as a product, the activities that a tourist participates in whilst on holiday are also an important part of the tourism value chain, and are of potential environmental interest. However, they are only referred to in this SRD insofar as they may be influenced by destination managers and tour operators.