Environmental Auditing: The EU Practice in the Context of Pursuing Sustainable Development Policy

The key objective of the study is to explain the contribution of environmental auditing in the improvement and protection of the environment while respecting the concept of sustainable development. The study describes the role and benefits of environmental auditing in organizations as part of the governance framework based on the adopted broad regulatory framework of international environmental agreements like Espoo Convention, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards and the impact of the community governance framework on EU sustainable development policies using relevant EU normative acts like Regulation No 1836/93, EnvironmentalManagement and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Regulation, Directive 2012/27/EU, Member- States legislation. The classification features of environmental auditing have been clarified and systematized in accordance with its role and functions in the environmental management system. There is information on the shift of purely environmental auditing to the audit of labour protection, ecology, industrial and fire safety (joint audit). The relationship between environmental auditing, certification and environmental management systems is shown. There is a comparison of financial audit and environmental auditing; their similarities and differences have been revealed. The research results can be put into practice to provide specific proposals for reducing pollution and improving environmental protection. EMAS, environmental audit, environmental management, environmental protection, international environmental agreements, sustainable development