Environmental crime causes significant damage to the environment, public health and the global economy. However, the number of successfully prosecuted cases remains low, sanctions are not deterrent and cross-border cooperation is insufficient. To address these issues, a new Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) entered into force on 20 May 2024. 2024/1203 of 11 April 2024 on the protection of the environment through criminal law:

• The aim of the directive is to establish minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in order to more effectively protect the environment and combat crime in this area.
• The directive replaces the previous directives 2008/99/EC and 2009/123/EC.
• The Union is committed to ensuring a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. Union environmental policy shall aim at a high level of protection, taking into account the diverse situations in the various regions of the Union and shall be based on the principles of prevention, of rectifying damage at source and of the polluter-pays principle.
• The increase in environmental crime and its cross-border nature are a cause for concern and require an effective response. Existing sanctions are not sufficient to comply with Union law on environmental protection.
• Member States should criminalise certain unlawful acts and harmonise the types and levels of sanctions. Criminal sanctions should be laid down for serious infringements of Union law relating to the protection of the environment.
• The definition of criminal offences applies to both acts and omissions.
• Conduct should be unlawful if it infringes Union law or the national provisions of a Member State implementing Union law. The Directive sets out which unlawful conduct may constitute a criminal offence and, where appropriate, sets the quantitative or qualitative threshold required for such conduct to constitute a criminal offence.
• The action should be unlawful even if it is carried out on the basis of authority obtained through fraud or corruption.
• Operators should take the necessary steps to comply with environmental protection legislation.
• The term "legal persons" does not include States or public authorities exercising State authority or public international organisations.
• Some crimes include a qualitative threshold, such as causing death or substantial damage to the environment. This threshold should be understood broadly, including damage to animals, plants, habitats and ecosystem services.
• Where the offences concern acts such as making available or placing on the market, selling, offering for sale or dealing, acts carried out by means of information and communication technologies should be included.
• The directive introduces the criminal offence of placing on the market a product the use of which on a large scale results in the release of substances into the environment which causes or is likely to cause significant damage to the environment or human health.
• Illegal waste management can cause devastating effects on the environment and human health.
• When assessing the amount of a commodity associated with deforestation, Member States should take into account the quantity of the commodity, the scale of the activity and the conservation status of the species concerned.
• Crimes that have catastrophic consequences should constitute qualified crimes and be punished with more severe sanctions.
• The hazard and toxicity of the material or substance should be taken into account when assessing whether a regulatory limit has been exceeded.
• The Directive also applies to any Union act amending the provisions or requirements relevant for the purposes of defining the unlawful conduct that falls within the scope of the criminal offences defined in this Directive.
• The Commission should regularly assess whether it is necessary to amend the description in this Directive of conduct that may constitute a criminal offence under this Directive.
• Where this Directive provides that an unlawful act constitutes a criminal offence only if it is committed intentionally and causes the death of a person, the concept of ‘intent’ should be interpreted in accordance with national law, taking into account the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
• The concept of "gross negligence" should be interpreted in accordance with national law, taking into account the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice.
• The involvement of organised crime groups should be duly taken into account in criminal and judicial proceedings.
• Incitement and aiding and abetting the intentional commission of a crime should also be punishable.
• Sanctions for criminal offences should be effective, dissuasive and proportionate.
• Complementary sanctions or measures are often considered more effective than financial sanctions, especially in the case of legal persons.
• When setting financial penalties for legal persons, Member States should consider the criterion of the legal person's total worldwide turnover.
• Member States should ensure that criminal or non-criminal sanctions or measures applicable to legal persons held liable for qualified criminal offences are more severe than those applicable to other criminal offences.
• The fact that legal persons are held liable should not prevent criminal proceedings against natural persons.
• Member States should consider introducing sanctions or measures that are alternatives to imprisonment in order to contribute to environmental restoration.
• The levels of sanctions imposed should be further approximated and the effectiveness of these levels should be supported by the introduction of common aggravating circumstances that reflect the seriousness of the crime committed.
• Member States should ensure that at least one of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances is established as a possible aggravating or mitigating circumstance in accordance with the applicable rules in their legal system.
• This Directive should be without prejudice to civil liability under national law or the obligation to compensate for harm or damage caused as a result of the criminal offence.
• The publication of personal data of convicted persons should only be possible in duly justified exceptional cases based on an individual assessment.
• Member States should clearly define the scope of administrative and criminal law enforcement with regard to environmental offences in accordance with their national law.
• Judicial and administrative authorities should have at their disposal a full range of criminal and non-criminal sanctions and other measures, including preventive measures.
• Member States are invited to enable competent authorities to order the immediate cessation of unlawful conduct or to prevent such conduct.
• If the perpetrators have made financial gains, such gains should be confiscated.
• Member States should lay down rules on limitation periods necessary to effectively combat environmental crime.
• Member States should establish jurisdiction in order to effectively combat criminal offences.
• In order to ensure the successful implementation of environmental criminal law, Member States should make effective investigative tools available to competent authorities.
• Whistleblowers who report breaches of Union environmental law play a key role in detecting and preventing such breaches.
• Persons who report environmental crimes, as well as persons who cooperate with law enforcement in relation to such crimes, should receive the necessary support and assistance in the context of criminal proceedings.
• Member States should assess the need to allow individuals to anonymously report environmental crimes, if such a possibility is not already provided for.
• Members of the public concerned should be able to act on behalf of the environment as a public good in accordance with national law and subject to relevant procedural rules.
• Member States should take appropriate measures, such as information and awareness-raising campaigns targeting relevant public and private stakeholders, as well as research and training programmes, aimed at reducing the overall level of environmental crime and the risk of committing environmental crime.
• The lack of resources and law enforcement powers for national authorities that detect, investigate, prosecute or issue decisions in relation to environmental crimes creates obstacles to the effective prevention and punishment of these crimes.
• Member States should provide training appropriate to the functions of those responsible for detecting, investigating, prosecuting or taking decisions in relation to environmental crime.
• To ensure an effective, integrated and coherent law enforcement system, Member States should organise internal cooperation and communication between all competent authorities involved in administrative law enforcement and criminal law enforcement.
• Member States should also cooperate with each other through Union agencies, in particular Eurojust and Europol, as well as with Union bodies, including the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the European Anti-Fraud Office, in their respective fields of competence.
• Member States should ensure that competent national authorities exchange information on persons convicted of criminal offences.
• Member States should adopt, publish, implement and regularly review a national strategy for combating environmental crime.
• In order to effectively tackle environmental crime, it is necessary for the competent authorities in the Member States to collect accurate, consistent and comparable statistical data on such crimes.
• Implementing powers are conferred on the Commission to establish a standard format for the transmission of statistical data.
• The aim of this Directive is to amend and extend the provisions of Directive 2008/99/EC.
• Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 21 May 2026.

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