IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ? ISO 14001 OR EMAS

The human-nature relationship is manifested in several ways: in urban life, industry, culture etc. Man, through his intervention, has significantly changed the environment, according to his needs. Most human entities aspire to achieve the economic development in order to secure the increase of life standards and to protect and improve the environment, both for themselves and for future generations. All local, regional, national and international levels need to adopt environmental policie. In this paper, we intended to present not only a philosophy of environmental management, but also a substantive action universally valid at the European and global level, through the environmental management system. The Environmental Management System (EMS) is a component of the general management system which includes the organisational structure, planning activities, the responsibilities, practices and procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, analysing and maintaining the environmental policy. The objective of the Environmental Management System is to preserve natural resources, limit the emission of pollutants and environmental risks and guarantee safety at work.The International Standard SR EN ISO 14001 and the EMAS European regulation are useful instruments supporting companies in adopting the management systems, which take into consideration each stage or process related to environmental protection. The most current environmental management systems are presented separately, ISO 14001 and EMES, through their own characteristics, as well as their comparative analysis. The paper ends with the conclusions of the study, acknowledgements and the list of references.