On Tuesday, 3 December, the European Ministers of Justice took note of the final report of the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU on the eighth round of mutual reviews relating to criminal matters, which concentrated on environmental crime (see EUROPE 12380/6).
The report focuses on two forms of criminal activity: illegal trafficking of waste and the illegal production or handling of hazardous materials. It makes several recommendations that Member States are invited to follow in order to strengthen the fight against environmental crime.
“Environmental crime is often invisible but is present throughout the whole of the EU. The detection rate is quite low and so this is an often underestimated phenomenon. We therefore need to adopt a multidisciplinary and proactive approach to deal with this type of crime better”, said Anna-Maja Henriksson, Finland’s Minister of Justice.
The report emphasises the importance of training and of cooperation between the relevant authorities, as well as cooperation with the private sector, NGOs and non-Member States. It stressed the need for a legal framework to combat environmental crime better.
Greece was the only country to address the meeting, stating that the eighth round of mutual reviews had made it possible to identify weaknesses in the approaches of some Member States, but also to share good practice.
Ministers also took note of a Presidency report on European environmental criminal law, which has collected together Member States' views on this issue and which concludes that a thorough review of the need for new minimum rules should be undertaken (see EUROPE 12338/11).
These reports are intended to feed into the Commission's reflections, as it is currently carrying out a full review of the Environmental Crime Directive. The results of the review should be available in spring 2020. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)