"The environmental audit of an industrial company may be defined as a periodic, systematic, documented, and objective evaluation of the management systems and the performance of equipment put in place to ensure the protection of the environment. It is undertaken in order to facilitate the control by the management of the company of its environmental practices, to ensure their compliance with regulations, and to provide an additional sales argument in relation to the competition." (www.novethic.fr/lexique)

• Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS).
• Regulation (Ec) No 761/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 allowing voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS).
• ISO 14000, Environmental management.

• E. Bezou, Système de management environnemental. Audit, certification et règlement des Eco-audit, Afnor, 1997.
• C. Lepage, Bien gérer l'environnement, Paris, Le Moniteur, 1999.
• C. London, Environnement et stratégie de l'entreprise, Rennes, Apogée, 1993.
• M.-P. Maître, « Audits d’environnement » : JCl Environnement et Développement durable, Fasc. 2220, 2011.