Activities of Axel VOSS related to 2021/0422(COD)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (25)
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) 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 targeted additional categories of offences based only 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 92 #
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.
Amendment 96 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) A conduct should be considered unlawful also when it is carried out under an authorisation by a competent authority in a Member State ifonly in cases where such authorisation was obtained fraudulently, or by corruption, extortion or coercion. Moreover, operators should take the necessary steps to comply with the legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions concerning the protection of environment applicable when they carry out the respective activity, including by complying with their obligations, as laid down in applicable EU and national laws, in procedures governing amendments or updates to existing authorisations..
Amendment 104 #
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 the defining objective of our time and a matter of intergenerational equity. 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, while fully respecting the principles of conferral, subsidiarity and proportionality as laid down in art. 5 of the TEU.
Amendment 106 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Qualitative and quantitative thresholds used to define environmental criminal offences should be clarified by providing an non-exhaustive list of circumstances which should be taken into account when assessing such thresholds by authorities which investigate, prosecute and adjudicate offences. This should promote the coherent application of the Directive and a more effective fight against environmental crimes as well as provide for legal certainty. However, such thresholds or their application should not make the investigation, prosecution or adjudication of criminal offences excessively difficult.
Amendment 117 #
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. FThe severity of the offence in terms of scale and irreversibility as well as the financial situation of legal persons should be taken into account to ensure the proportionality and dissuasiveness of the sanction imposed.
Amendment 119 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15 a (new)
Recital 15 a (new)
(15a) In order to ensure a comprehensive framework for environmental protection, it is important to proceed with the establishment for corporate sustainability due diligence rules which should be set exclusively by the Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence, which is currently under discussion.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15 b (new)
Recital 15 b (new)
(15b) This Directive should promote a holistic approach taking into account also current economic challenges when assessing the proportionality of environmental criminal law measures and their effect on companies in the Single Market.
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) A further approximation and effectiveness of sanction levels imposed in practice should be fostered through common aggravating circumstances that reflect the severity of the crime committed. Where the death of, or serious injury to, a person, have been caused and where these elements are not already constituent for the criminal offence, these could be considered as aggravating circumstances. Equally, when an environmental criminal offence causes substantial and irreversible or long- lasting damage to an entire ecosystem, this should be an aggravating circumstance because of its severity, including in cases comparable to ecocide. As the illegal profits or expenditure that can be generated or avoided through environmental crime are an important incentive for criminals, these should be taken into account when determining the appropriate level of sanctioning in the individual case.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) This Directive should apply without prejudice to the general rules and principles of national criminal law on the sentencing or the application and execution of sentences in accordance with the specific circumstances in each individual case. In order to allow for legal certainty, the environmental criminal offences and definitions set out in this Directive should be kept in place without the introduction of new changes in the foreseeable future.
Amendment 152 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Since nature cannot represent itself as a victim in criminal proceedings, fFor the purpose of effective enforcement members of the public concerned, as defined in this Directive taking into account Articles 2(5) and 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention26 , should have the possibility to act on behalf of the environment as a public good, within the scope of the Member States’ legal framework and subject to the relevant procedural rules. _________________ 26 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.
Amendment 159 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) To ensure an effective, integrated and coherent enforcement system that includes administrative, civil and criminal law measures, Member States should organise internal cooperation and communication between all actors along the administrative and criminal enforcement chains and between punitive and remedial sanctioning actors. Following the applicable rules, Member States should also cooperate through EU agencies, in particular Eurojust and Europol, as well as with EU bodies, includtheir respective areas of competence. In order to allow for the positive effect of this Directive to take effect ing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), in their respective areas of competencefight against environmental crime and in order not to create redundant structures or competences at Union level, this Directive does not consider any extension of competences of Union agencies.
Amendment 245 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point j
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point j
(j) the manufacture, production, processing, handling, use, holding, storage, transport, import, export or disposal of radioactive material falling within the scope of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom46 ,or Council Directive 2014/87/Euratom47 or Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom48 , which causes or is likely to cause death or serious injury to any person or substantial damage to the quality of air, the quality of soil or the quality of water, or to animals or plants; _________________ 46 Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5 December 2013 laying down basic safety standards for protection against the dangers arising from exposure to ionising radiation, and repealing Directives 89/618/Euratom, 90/641/Euratom, 96/29/Euratom, 97/43/Euratom and 2003/122/Euratom (OJ L 13, 17.1.2014, p. 1–73). 47 Council Directive 2014/87/Euratom of 8 July 2014 amending Directive 2009/71/Euratom establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations (OJ L 219, 25.7.2014, p. 42–52). 48 Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom of 22 October 2013 laying down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption (OJ L 296, 7.11.2013, p. 12–21).
Amendment 250 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point l
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point l
(l) the killing, destruction, taking of, possession, sale or offering for sale of a specimen or specimens of wild fauna or flora species listed in Annexes IV and V (when species in Annex V are subject to the same measures as those adopted for species in Annex IV) to Council Directive 92/43/EEC49 and the species referred to in Article 1 of Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council50 , except for cases where the conduct concerns a negligible quantity of such specimens in accordance with the applicable law; _________________ 49 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7–50). 50 Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7–25).
Amendment 281 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Amendment 318 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary and appropriate measures to ensure that the offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 are punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties.
Amendment 346 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point c
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point c
Amendment 372 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 3
Article 6 – paragraph 3
3. Liability of legal persons under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not exclude criminal proceedings against natural persons whoin exceptional cases, namely when they are perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4..
Amendment 414 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 5
Article 7 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that offences referred to in Article 3(1) points (k), (l), (m), (o), (p) are punishable by proportionate fines, the maximum limit of which shall be not be less than 3% of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person [/undertaking] in the business year preceding the fining decision.
Amendment 431 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point j
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point j
(j) the offender actively obstructs the inspection, custom controls or investigation activities, or intimidates or interferes with witnesses or complainants.
Amendment 439 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point b – introductory part
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point b – introductory part
(b) the offender provides the relevant administrative or judicial authorities with information which they would not otherwise have been able to obtain, helping them to:
Amendment 453 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) of offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 which are punishable by a maximum sanction of at least ten years of imprisonment, for a period of at least ten years from the time when the offence was committed, when offences are punishable in full respect of the principle of nulla poena sine lege;
Amendment 459 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point b
(b) of offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 which are punishable by a maximum sanction of at least six years of imprisonment, for a period of at least six years from the time when the offence was committed, when offences are punishable in full respect of the principle of nulla poena sine lege;
Amendment 466 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) of offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 which are punishable by a maximum sanction of at least four years of imprisonment, for a period of at least four years from the time when the offence was committed, when offences are punishable in full respect of the principle of nulla poena sine lege.
Amendment 513 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Member States shall ensure that, in accordance with their national legal systems, members of the public concerned have appropriate rights to participate in proceedings concerning offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4, for instance as a civil party, in accordance with the applicable national law.