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EU environmental crime plan nears approval
2nd December 2002
Environment Daily News Service
EU justice ministers will approve a controversial plan to align national definitions and sanctions for serious environmental crimes at a council meeting later this month. The move is expected to trigger legal action against the council by the European Commission and European parliament, which have been sidelined from the initiative.
A draft council framework decision has been finalised and agreed in principle by all member states. It will define actions and activities to be classified as green crimes and set out minimum and maximum punishments that member states may mete out to offenders.
The text was to have been approved at last week's justice council in Brussels but should now be rubber-stamped on 20 December. Agreement was delayed while the Irish government sought parliamentary approval for the move, according to a council source.
Originally proposed by Denmark, which also currently holds the EU presidency, the environmental crime initiative will be adopted under the third pillar of the EU treaty. This intergovernmental mechanism effectively excludes the Commission and parliament from the decision-making process, prompting their threats of court action.
* Meanwhile, the European Commission last week published a comparative survey of the current status and punishment of serious environmental crimes in the EU's 15 member states. It shows that the traditional sanctions of fines and imprisonment are the most common deterrents. It also shows a trend towards acceptance of the idea that firms can be held liable for environmental crimes.
Follow-up: EU council of ministers,
tel: +32 2 285 6211; European Commission,
tel: +32 2 299 1111,
and environmental crime survey. (pdf - 1.3MB)
{If you have difficulty downloading the pdf file mentioned above, “Criminal Penalties in EU Member States’ Environmental Law” - Faure G.M & Heine G. - 4th October 2002 - pdf 1.3MB please click here}
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