Interrelationships between BS 7750 and the EMAS Program -- Impetus for Creation of EMAS. Legislative and Developmental History of the Program -- Creation and Evaluation of the EMAS Program -- Examination of the Development of the EU Environmental Liability Scheme -- Discussion and Evaluation of EMAS Implementation in each of the EU-25 Countries -- Discussion on Environmental Management Systems. Evaluation of EMS' Impacts on SMEs -- Evaluation and Discussion of the Current State of EMAS, with a look toward the Future of the Scheme. "IwenttothewoodsbecauseIwishedtolivedeliberately,tofrontonlytheessential factsoflife,andseeifIcouldnotlearnwhatithadtoteach,andnot,whenIcameto die,discoverthatIhadnotlived." -HenryDavidThoreau Whilethehistoryoftheglobalenvironmentalmovementhasbeenwelldocumented and addressedinalmost countless texts, it is instructive to examine severalkey events in the movement, in order to more fully understand the impetus for and impact of the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which is the subject of this text. "The landmark bookSilentSpring played a vitally important role in stimulating the 1 contemporary environmental movement". SilentSpring sold over 500,000 copies in its hard cover printing, spent over half a year on theNewYorkTimes bestseller list, and was published in two dozen other countries. Author Ramachandra Guha notes how the "impact of Silent Spring was by no means restricted to theUnited States...translated into twelve languages, Silent Springhad a strikingimpact on the resurgence of envi- 2 ronmentalism throughout Europe". The book gained prominence in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden, among other countries. Environmentalists had for some time been concerned with the protection of endangered species or beautifulhabitats; itwasSilentSpring which helped them move further, to an appreciation that in 'in nature nothing exists alone'...that nature was, in sum, 'an 3 intricate web of lifewhose interwoven strands lead frommicrobes to man'. Secondly, Earth Day, a nation-wideeffort intheUnited States on 22 April 1970, gave a forum for "...an estimated 20 million participants [to af?rm] their commitment toaclean environment...", and to advocate changes inthe manner inwhich theU.S.