Origin and mission of EU-BRITE
The European IPPC Bureau was established in 1997 by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Located in Seville (Spain), the Bureau was originally affiliated with the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS). In 2024 the European IPPC Bureau changed its name to the European Bureau for Research on Industrial Transformation and Emissions (EU-BRITE). It is part of JRC Unit B5 - Circular Economy and Sustainable Industry in Directorate B - Fair and Sustainable Economy.
From the beginning, the Bureau has the mandate to organise an exchange of information between Member States, the industries concerned and environmental non-governmental organisations on Best Available Techniques (BAT) for integrated control and prevention of environmental pollution from industrial activities. The objective of the information exchange is to assist the efficient implementation of the Industrial Emissions Directive across the European Union. This work is carried out in close collaboration with DG Environment.
BREFs: the main output of the Sevilla process
A BREF is a comprehensive report that determines best available techniques (BAT) and emerging techniques based on empirical data and sound techno-economic information. The key element of a BREF is the section on 'BAT conclusions' that is adopted as a stand-alone document through a committee procedure. BAT conclusions are subsequently published in the Official Journal of the European Union and provide competent authorities with a reference for setting permit conditions for installations covered by the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
A BREF is not meant to be a textbook on pollution prevention and control techniques since extensive literature exists on the subject. Its content is limited to the information relevant for the purpose of enabling the determination of BAT and emerging techniques for activities or sectors covered in Annex I to the IED.
A BREF informs the relevant decision makers about what may be technically and economically available to industry in order to abate emissions to air and water and improve their overall environmental performance.
The drawing up and revision of BREFs at EU level is considered to be an effective and cost-efficient exercise that 1) ensures a level playing field regarding environmental standards across the European Union, 2) drives continuous process innovation and improvement of environmental performances and 3) prevents replication of activities in each Member State.
As of June 2024, the European Bureau for Research on Industrial Transformation and Emissions (EU-BRITE) has issued 34 BREF under the IPPC Directive/IED, most of which have been already reviewed and updated. Each BREF is normally the outcome of a several-year information collection and exchange within technical working groups of more than 100 experts. These documents can be downloaded from the Reference Documents tab.