Brussels, 30/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission will "probably" initiate action at the Court of Justice against adoption by Monday's Council of the framework decision making environmental damage a criminal offence and as such liable to sanction (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.10). It is not opposed to the content of the framework decision but to its legal base, solely based on intergovernmental cooperation, it is explained at the Commission. The latter considers that the fact of making damage to the environment liable to punishment must be based on Community competence in environmental matters (first pillar), even if harmonisation of sanctions is to be based on European Union competence on judiciary cooperation (third pillar, intergovernmental). The Council rejected this point of view, choosing to use only the third pillar and EU competence in judiciary cooperation issues as a base. "The Commission regrets this decision, and will continue to do what is necessary to bring the legal base within the first pillar", a spokesperson explains. If the Commission were to win the case, other decisions for harmonising criminal sanctions could then be founded on sectoral Community law rather than on the third pillar.