Brussels, 21/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - “Environmental crime is seldom prosecuted by national authorities”. It is with this warning that officials from Eurojust (the EU's judicial cooperation body) and its president, Michèle Coninsx, came to present their latest report on this issue to the European Commission during the morning of Friday 12 November.
The report lists a whole series of crimes that continue to go insufficiently punished - trafficking in rhinoceros horns (which funds terrorist activities in Africa), trafficking in endangered species and rare birds, illegal rubbish dumps in Europe or the illegal export of waste from Europe to Africa. This is a “relatively new and increasingly frequent crime type”, says Coninsx.
While it is difficult to obtain precise figures on this trafficking as its actors remain difficult to detect, environmental crime is profitable, says Coninsx. OECD figures estimate the gains from this type of trafficking at between US$30-70 million per year.
The Eurojust report aims primarily to warn member states - with the EU also being a hub for this trafficking (the trafficking in rhinoceros horns is well set up in the EU, particularly in the Czech Republic, as is that of cosmetics based on protected plants).
The member states are thus called upon to re-assess their legislation and instruments for cracking down. “Legislation is different from one member state to another”, said Coninsx. “This situation calls for cross-border action and for the correct organisational structures to be put in place in the member states”, she continued.
Some member states have environmental prosecutors - as in Sweden, the UK or Denmark - and other member states could take inspiration from this practice. Criminals choose countries where the penalties are low.
With regard to waste, Ireland and Italy are the countries of choice - although there was a big affair involving liquid manure that concerned Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in 2012. These countries are nevertheless making efforts. In particular, measures aiming to seize and freeze the acquisitions of organised criminals are beginning to bear fruit. (SP)