Skip to main content
Glossary termPublished inIED 2.0

Operator (IED)

Also known as exploitant

What does "Operator" mean under the IED?

Any natural or legal person who operates or controls in whole or in part the installation or combustion plant, waste incineration plant or waste co-incineration plant or, where this is provided for in national law, to whom decisive economic power over the technical functioning of the installation or plant has been delegated

Defined in / by

Also defined different in / by

Last updated: 14 October 2026.

Who the operator is

The operator is the person the Directive's duties land on. Article 11 requires installations to be operated in line with a set of principles, among them that the best available techniques are applied and that no significant pollution is caused. The operator informs the competent authority of planned changes and may not make a substantial change without a new permit (Article 20), prepares the baseline report (Article 22(2)) and, since Directive (EU) 2024/1785, prepares and implements the environmental management system by 1 July 2027 (Article 14a(4)).

The definition has two limbs. The first covers any natural or legal person who operates or controls the installation or plant, in whole or in part, so more than one person can be an operator of the same installation. The second applies only where national law provides for it: a person to whom decisive economic power over the technical functioning of the installation or plant has been delegated.

The operator is also the person exposed to the penalties in Article 79. For the most serious infringements by a legal person, the maximum fine is at least 3% of the operator's annual Union turnover in the financial year preceding the year in which the fine is imposed. The definition was not changed in 2024.

Questions and answers

Can an IED installation have more than one operator?

Yes. The definition covers any natural or legal person who operates or controls the installation or plant in whole or in part, so control can be split between several persons.

Is the IED operator the same as the operator under the EU AI Act?

No. Under the IED an operator runs or controls an installation or plant. Under the EU AI Act, operator is a collective term for a provider, product manufacturer, deployer, authorised representative, importer or distributor.

Regulations

  • Industrial Emissions Directive (IED 2.0)

    The revised Industrial Emissions Directive is Directive (EU) 2024/1785. Member States had to transpose it by 1 July 2026, and none had notified full transposition by 25 September 2026. Operators need an environmental management system by 1 July 2027, and large pig and poultry farms follow from 2030. The Dutch bill is before the Eerste Kamer.

    Next
    Parliament plenary, first reading of Omnibus VIII