The presidency of the European Council and European Parliament negotiators have reached an agreement on a proposed EU law that would significantly improve the investigation and prosecution of environmental crime.

The aim of the new directive is to establish minimum rules on the definition of criminal offences and penalties to improve the protection of the environment, replacing the previous 2008 directive, which has become obsolete in the face of the evolution of the Union’s environmental legislation.

The directive provides a more precise definition of environmental offences and adds new types of environmental offences. It also harmonises the level of penalties for natural persons and, for the first time, for legal persons in all EU Member States.

The Council and the European Parliament agreed to increase the number of offences currently existing in EU criminal law back to 18. This broadens and clarifies the type of prohibited conduct that harms the environment. Among the new offences are timber trafficking, which is a major cause of deforestation in some areas of the world, illegal recycling of polluting components from ships and several serious breaches of chemicals legislation.

The Council and the European Parliament also agreed on a so-called ‘qualified offence’ clause. Offences referred to in the directive, and committed intentionally, are considered qualified offences if they cause destruction; irreversible, widespread and substantial damage; or long-term, widespread and substantial damage to an ecosystem of considerable size or environmental value, or to a natural habitat within a protected site, or to the quality of air, soil or water.

In the case of natural persons who commit any of the offences provided for in the directive, the text establishes the following penalties, which are more severe than the previous ones:

• for intentional crimes causing death to any person, a maximum term of imprisonment of at least ten years

• for the qualified offence with catastrophic consequences, a maximum term of imprisonment of at least eight years

• for crimes committed with at least serious negligence causing death to any person, a maximum term of imprisonment of at least five years.

• for other intentional crimes included in the legislation, a maximum prison sentence of at least five years or at least three years.

In the case of legal persons, the text establishes the following penalties:

• for the most serious infringements, a maximum fine of at least 5% of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person or, alternatively, €40 million.

• for all other offences, a maximum fine of at least 3% of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person or, alternatively, €24 million.

Additional measures may also be taken, such as obliging the offender to restore the environment or compensate for damage, excluding the offender from access to public funding or withdrawing permits or authorisations.

In addition, Member States will have to make sure that training is offered to those working to detect, investigate and prosecute environmental crime, such as judges, prosecutors and law enforcement authorities. EU countries will also have to ensure that these authorities have adequate resources, for example, in terms of the number of qualified personnel and financial resources to carry out their functions in accordance with the directive. Furthermore, the directive contains provisions on support and assistance to persons reporting environmental crime, environmental defenders and persons affected by such crimes.

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