Interinstitutional negotiations (trilogue) are continuing on the revision of the directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law.
At the trilogue meeting held on Tuesday 13 June, a number of technical points were discussed concerning this proposal submitted by the Commission in December 2021 (see EUROPE 12854/17), which aims to increase the effectiveness of the investigation and prosecution of environmental criminal offences throughout the European Union.
Although the definition of environmental crime, the general clause of Article 3.1a and pollution from ships were at the heart of this second meeting, no agreement has been reached for the moment and progress remains limited to technical discussions, according to a source close to the dossier.
Ahead of this second trilogue, MEPs had invited the Commission to work on “reformulations or assessments” of the proposed changes, in particular to articles 2 and 3 (see EUROPE 13190/12) on the definition of offences. The European Parliament had added four new infringements to the Commission’s initial proposal: mercury, genetically modified organisms, illegal fishing as well as forest fires.
For example, Article 2.1 on the definition of “environmental damage”, Article 3.b on the “illegal placing on the market or trade” of a product whose use is likely to “cause death or serious injury, damage to a person’s health or substantial damage” to the environment, and Article 3.j referring to radioactive materials were among the elements studied at a technical level, without leading to a compromise.
The general clause of Article 3.1a, amended by the European Parliament to make “offences causing death or serious damage to health and the environment” more severely punishable, was also discussed. According to our sources, the MEPs “unanimously” reaffirmed that this is a “priority”, as it has been since the start of the European Parliament’s work.
From a technical point of view, discussions have progressed as far as Article 8 of the thirty or so articles in the text. The negotiators are expected to continue their exhaustive examination before returning to the points mentioned earlier.
The issue of sanctions remains the most politically sensitive. And for good reason, MEPs are going further than the Commission’s proposal, calling for fines of at least 10% of average worldwide sales over the previous three financial years for companies that are penalised, rather than the 5% initially set (see EUROPE 13146/3).
Further technical meetings are scheduled for 10 and 11 July, while the next political interinstitutional negotiations are not expected before the autumn. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)