22. 4. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 104/35 COMMISSION DECISION of 16 April 1997 on the recognition of certification procedures in accordance with Article 12 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 of 29 June 1993, allowing voluntary participation by companies in the industrial sector in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (Text with EEA relevance) (97/264/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 of 29 June 1993, allowing voluntary participation by companies in the industrial sector in a Community eco- management and audit scheme ('), and in particular Article 12 thereof, Whereas Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 es- tablishes that companies implementing national, Euro- pean or international standards for environmental mana- gement systems and audits and certified, according to appropriate certification procedures, as complying with those standards shall be considered as meeting the corres- ponding requirements of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93, provided that, in particular, the standards and procedures are recognized by the Commission acting in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 19 of the same Regulation; Whereas Article 12 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 states that the references of the recognized standards and criteria shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, Whereas the Commission has been requested to recog- nize that accreditation according to the criteria laid down in any one of the following approaches to the accredita- tion of certification bodies in the field of environmental management systems will ensure that appropriate certifi- cation procedures are employed by certification bodies, acting within the scope of their accreditation, who have been accredited according to these requirements and guidelines: 1. the approach based on the following Austrian legisla- tion: 622" Federal Law of 1995 — Environmental Verifiers and List of Sites Act, 549" Ordinance of 1996 — Ordinance on assessment of competence, EAC Guide 5 of June 1996; () OJ No L 168, 10. 7. 1993, p. 1. 2. Guidelines for accreditation of certification bodies for environmental management systems (EMS) and certifi- cation procedures for EMS — issued September 1996 by the German Federal Ministries of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and for Economics and approved by the Environmental Verifi- cation Committee pursuant to Article 21 of the German EMAS Act (Umweltauditgesetz); 3. European accreditation of certification (EAC) guide- lines for the accreditation of certification bodies for environmental management systems — EAC Guide § of June 1996; Whereas the criteria established by the three approaches, mentioned above, for the accreditation of certification bodies ensure that the internal audit addresses environ- mental performance and are appropriate for the purposes of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93; Whereas the measures set out in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee estab- lished pursuant to Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: Article 1 For the purposes of Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93, the Commission hereby recognizes that accred- itation according to the criteria laid down in any one of the following approaches to the accreditation of certifica- tion bodies will ensure that appropriate certification procedures are employed by certification bodies, acting within the scope of their accreditation, who have been accredited according to these requirements and guide- lines: 1. the approach based on the following Austrian legisla- tion: 622" Federal Law of 1995 — Environmental Verifiers and List of Sites Act, 549" Ordinance of 1996 — Ordinance on assessment of competence, EAC Guide 5 of June 1996;