At its plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday 27 February, the European Parliament approved the revision of the Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law, with 499 votes in favour, 100 against and 23 abstentions.
The interinstitutional political agreement reached in November 2023 (see EUROPE 13294/4) broadens the range of criminal environmental offences, doubling their number from 9 to 18. This text also introduces more stringent penalties for what it calls “qualified” offences, i.e. those leading to the destruction of ecosystems or habitats in protected sites or causing damage to the air, soil or water. These acts, which can be likened to ecocide, include forest fires.
On this last point, the text’s rapporteur, Antonius Manders (EPP, Dutch), in his presentation the day before the European Parliament vote, stressed the importance of this legislation as an incentive to step up efforts in “an area where the Member States must redouble them".
During the same debate, shadow rapporteur Ilana Cicurel (Renew Europe, French) called for international action to secure worldwide recognition of ecocide. Mick Wallace (The Left, Irish) criticised the absence of this term in the final text, an omission attributed to EPP opposition, despite the directive’s aim of condemning equivalent acts. According to Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, French), who spoke after the vote on X (formerly Twitter), this is “one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation in the world for combating environmental crimes, particularly ecocide”.
Penalties under the directive include up to ten years’ imprisonment for offences resulting in death, eight years for aggravated offences, and up to five years for other offences.
Offending companies could be fined between 3% and 5% of their annual worldwide sales, with a ceiling of between €24 million and €40 million, depending on the nature of the infringement. Member States will be free to prosecute offences committed outside their territory.
The directive also emphasises specialised training for law enforcement and judicial personnel, support for whistleblowers and data collection and analysis.
If, at a press conference, Antonius Manders welcomed the “dynamic approach and precautionary principle” introduced by the text, the MEP expressed regret at certain limitations imposed by the EU Council, notably the absence of enhanced coordination via the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for cross-border crimes and the restrictions on maximum penalties, which he would have liked to have seen aligned with those applied in the field of competition law.
The directive will come into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. Member States will have two years to transpose it at national level.
To see the text: https://aeur.eu/f/b1o (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)