Article 46 Development of reference documents and guides

The Commission shall, in consultation with Member States and other stakeholders, develop sectoral reference documents that shall include:

The Commission may also develop reference documents for cross-sectoral use.

The Commission shall take into account existing reference documents and environmental performance indicators developed in accordance with other environmental policies and instruments in the Community or international standards.

The Commission shall establish, by the end of 2010, a working plan setting out an indicative list of sectors, which will be considered priorities for the adoption of sectoral and cross-sectoral reference documents.

The working plan shall be made publicly available and regularly updated.

The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Forum of Competent Bodies, develop a guide on registration of organisations outside the Community.

The Commission shall publish a user's guide setting out the steps needed to participate in EMAS.

That guide shall be available in all official languages of the institutions of the European Union and online.

Documents developed in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 4 shall be submitted for adoption. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 49(3).