The Environmental Management System (EMS) became a critical success factor in order to compete on the market. The aim of this study is to investigate how companies that have implemented an EMS based on the ISO 14001:2015 certification have perceived the changes due to the revision of the standard. The research was conducted through the administration of a questionnaire to 1,508 Italian ISO 14001 certified companies. Two hundred and eighty‐four companies constituting the sample of our study. As main benefits achieved by surveyed companies we highlight, risk prevention, better management of environmental activities, and creation of new targets for reducing energy and waste. As main barriers to ISO 14001 implementation we highlight, increased bureaucracy, increased complexity of environmental procedures and difficulty in increasing employee environmental awareness. The main contribution of this research is given by the analysis on how companies have dealt with the changes required by the new version of the standard.