Activities of Gianna GANCIA related to 2021/0422(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law and replacing Directive 2008/99/EC
Amendments (12)
Amendment 54 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The Union continues to beremains concerned withabout the rise in environmental criminal offences and their effects on the ecosystem and public health, which undermine the effectiveness of Union environmental legislation. These offences are moreover increasingly extending beyond the borders of the Member States in which the offences are committed. Such offences pose a threat to the environment and, though their consequences are felt within the Union itself; they therefore call for an appropriate and , effective and immediate response.
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The existing systems of penalties under Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council20 and environmental sectoral law have not beproven sufficient in all environmental policy area to achieve compliance with Union law for the protection of the environment. Compliance should be strengthened by the availability of criminal penalties, which demonstrate social disapproval of a qualitatively different nature compared tothrough specific guidance to the Member States and stronger links between their administrative penaltbodies. _________________ 20 Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law (OJ L 328, 6.12.2008, p. 28).
Amendment 62 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) TNotwithstanding the fact that organisation of the judicial system remains the prerogative of each Member State, the effective investigation, prosecution and adjudication of environmental criminal offences should be improved. The list of environmental criminal offences which were set out in Directive 2008/99/EC should be revised and additional categories of offences based on the most serious breaches of Union environmental law should be added. Provisions on sanctions should be strengthened in order to enhance their deterrent effect as well as the enforcement chain in charge of detecting, investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating environmental criminal offences.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Without prejudice to their autonomy in judicial matters, Member States should consider criminaliseing offence categories and provide for greater precision on the definitions of the offence categories, and harmonisation concerning sanction types and levels.
Amendment 75 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) In order to constitute an environmental offence under this Directive, conduct should be unlawful under Union law protecting the environment or national laws, administrative regulations or decisions giving effect to that Union law. The conduct which constitutes each category of criminal offence should be defined and, where appropriate, a threshold which needs to be met for the conduct to be criminalised should be set. Such conduct should be considered a criminal offence when committed intentionally and, in certain cases, also when committed with serious negligence. Illegal conduct that causes death or serious injury of persons, substantial damage or a considerable risk of substantial damage for the environment or is considered otherwise as particularly harmful to the environment constitutes a criminal offence when committed with serious negligence. Member States remain free to adopt or maintain more stringent criminal law rules in that area, according to the time frames laid down in national legislation.
Amendment 84 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The environment should be protected in a wide sense, as set out under Article 3 (3) TEU and Article 191 TFEU, covering all natural resources - air, water, soil, wild fauna and flora including habitats - as well as services provided by natural resource, and terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Amendment 88 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) The acceleration of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, paired with tangible examples of their devastating effects, have led to the recognition of the green transition as one of the defining objectives of our time and a matter ofn intergenerational equitymatter. Therefore, when Union legislation covered by this Directive evolves, this Directive should also cover any updated or amended Union legislation falling within the scope of criminal offences defined under this Directive, when the obligations under Union law remain unchanged in substance. However, when new legal instruments prohibit new conduct harmful to the environment, this Directive should be amended in order to add to the categories of criminal offences also the new serious breaches of Union environmental law.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In criminal proceedings and trials, due account should be taken of the involvement of organised criminal groups operating in ways that negatively impact the environment. Criminal proceedings should address corruption, money laundering, cyber-crime and document fraud and – in relation to business activities – the intention of the offender to maximise profits or save expenses, where these occur in the context of environmental crime. These crime forms are often interconnected with serious environmental crime forms and should therefore not be dealt with in isolation. In this respect, it is of particular concern that some environmental crimes are committed with the tolerance or active support of the competent administrations Tolerance of or active support for forms of crime takes the form officials performing his/her public duty. I corruption when cpertain cases this can even take the form of corruptionpetrated by local authorities. Examples of such behaviours are turning a blind eye or remaining silent on the infringement of laws protecting the environment following inspections, deliberately omitting inspections or controls for example with regard to whether the conditions of a permit are being respected by the permit- holder, resolutions or votes in favour of granting illegal licences or issuing falsified or untrue favourable reports.
Amendment 105 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Where national law provides for it, legal persons should also be held criminally liable for environmental criminal offences according to this Directive. Member States whose national law does not provide for the criminal liability of legal persons should ensure that their administrative sanctioning systems provide for effective, dissuasive and proportionate sanctions types and levels as laid down in this Directive in order to achieve its objectives. Financial situation of legal persons should be taken into account to ensure the dissuasiveness of the sanction imposed while upholding the principle of penal proportionality.
Amendment 109 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Where the crimes are of a continuing nature, they should be brought to an endisrupted as soon as possible. Where offenders have made financial gains, such gains should be confiscated.
Amendment 114 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Member States should lay down rules (where none are yet in place) concerning limitation periods necessary in order to enable them to counter environmental criminal offences effectively, without prejudice to national rules that do not set limitation periods for investigation, prosecution and enforcement.
Amendment 121 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Given, in particular, the mobility of perpetrators of illegal conduct covered by this Directive, together with the cross- border nature of offences and the possibility of cross-border investigations, Member States should establish jurisdiction in order to counter such conduct effectively in cooperation with the authorities of other Member States, particularly those with which they share borders.