2020/2027(INI) Liability of companies for environmental damage
Lead committee dossier:
Progress: Procedure completed
| Role | Committee | Rapporteur | Shadows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | JURI |
MANDERS Antonius ( EPP)
|
ROBERTI Franco ( S&D),
KYUCHYUK Ilhan ( Renew),
TOUSSAINT Marie ( Verts/ALE),
BECK Gunnar ( ID),
STANCANELLI Raffaele ( ECR),
AUBRY Manon ( GUE/NGL)
|
| Committee Opinion | DEVE |
ROOSE Caroline ( Verts/ALE)
|
Ryszard CZARNECKI ( ECR),
María Soraya RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS ( RE),
Frances FITZGERALD ( PPE),
Pierfrancesco MAJORINO ( S&D)
|
| Committee Opinion | ENVI |
CANFIN Pascal ( Renew)
|
Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN ( PPE),
Silvia MODIG ( GUE/NGL),
Rob ROOKEN ( ECR)
|
| Committee Opinion | LIBE |
BRICMONT Saskia ( Verts/ALE)
|
Sophia IN 'T VELD ( RE),
Franco ROBERTI ( S&D)
|
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54
Legal Basis:
RoP 54Events
2021/11/09
EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2021/05/20
EP - Results of vote in Parliament
Documents
2021/05/20
EP - Decision by Parliament
Details
The European Parliament adopted by 536 votes to 121, with 36 abstentions, a resolution on the liability of companies for environmental damage.
Responsible business conduct implies that companies take due account of environmental concerns. Environmental damage, dangerous and harmful chemicals and climate change pose significant risks to human health through air, soil and water pollution.
Reinforcing the current rules
Members welcomed the Commission’s efforts to assess and bridge gaps in the implementation of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) and the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) across the Member States.
However, the resolution stressed that differences in the implementation and enforcement of EU rules on corporate liability for environmental damage currently prevent EU industry from enjoying a level playing field.
Additional efforts are required to ensure regulatory standardisation in the EU and increased public confidence in the effectiveness of EU laws in order to prevent and remedy environmental damage more effectively and strike the right balance between corporate concerns and environmental protection.
Environmental crimes
Members regretted that environmental crimes are among the most profitable forms of transnational criminal activity. In this regard, they called on the Commission and the Member States, to allocate appropriate financial and human resources to preventing, investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes, and to increase the expertise of the authorities involved, including prosecutors and judges, with a view to more effectively prosecuting and sanctioning environmental crime.
Member States are called up on to set up or reinforce specialised units within their national police services at the appropriate levels for the investigation of environmental offences
Recommendations
Parliament called on the Commission to, inter alia:
- revise the ELD as soon as possible and transform it into a fully harmonised regulation in line with other EU legislation designed to protect the environment: a future regulation on environmental liability should apply to all companies operating in the EU, regardless of where they are incorporated or established
- update the Environmental Protection through Criminal Law Directive following an in-depth impact assessment, while taking into account new types and patterns of environmental crime;
- study the relevance of the qualification of ecocide for EU law and diplomacy;
- establish an EU ELD Working Group, composed of highly qualified experts and Commission officials, to support Member States in the implementation of the ELD;
- establish protection and assistance schemes for victims of environmental damage;
- explore the possibility of extending the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), once it is fully established and fully functional, to cover environmental offences;
- consider the adoption of an overall framework directive on environmental offences and effective and proportionate sanctions;
- assess the introduction of a mandatory financial security system (covering insurance, bank guarantees, company pools, securities and bonds or funds) with a maximum threshold per case, aiming to prevent taxpayers from having to bear the costs resulting from remediation of environmental damage;
- develop a harmonised EU methodology for calculating the maximum liability threshold;
- compile a study on the introduction of an ELD financial compensation scheme at EU or national level for cases where available remedies are inadequate given the extent of the damage;
- ensure that corporate social responsibility in preventing and remedying environmental harm is taken into account in procurement contracts and the allocation of public funds;
- come forward with a proposal for environmental inspections at EU level without further delay;
- promote action by the EU, its Member States and the international community to step up efforts against environmental crime.
Documents
2021/05/19
EP - Debate in Parliament
Documents
2021/04/06
EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details
The Committee on Legal Affairs adopted the own-initiative report by Antonius MANDERS (EPP, NL) on the liability of companies for environmental damage.
The report noted that ensuring liability for environmental damage is key to making European businesses more sustainable in the long term. Such an achievement is closely interlinked through the development of related legislation on corporate due diligence, corporate social accountability and sustainable corporate governance.
General observations
Members welcomed the Commission’s efforts to assess and bridge gaps in the implementation of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) and the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) across the Member States.
They considered that additional efforts are required to ensure regulatory standardisation in the EU and increased public confidence in the effectiveness of EU laws in order to prevent and remedy environmental damage more effectively and strike the right balance between corporate concerns and environmental protection.
Members regretted that environmental crimes are among the most profitable forms of transnational criminal activity. In this regard, they called on the Commission and the Member States, to allocate appropriate financial and human resources to preventing, investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes, and to increase the expertise of the authorities involved, including prosecutors and judges, with a view to more effectively prosecuting and sanctioning environmental crime.
Member States are called up on to set up or reinforce specialised units within their national police services at the appropriate levels for the investigation of environmental offences.
Recommendations
Members considered that, given the purpose of the ELD is to prevent and remedy environmental damage, a future regulation (Environmental Liability Regulation) should be applicable to all companies that operate in the EU, regardless of where they have been incorporated or where they are based, and that a holistic approach and reciprocity are necessary to meet the needs of companies in a global economy.
The report called on the Commission to:
- explore the possibility of extending the mandate of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), once it is fully established and fully functional, to cover environmental offences;
- consider the adoption of an overall framework directive on environmental offences and effective and proportionate sanctions;
- assess the introduction of a mandatory financial security system (covering insurance, bank guarantees, company pools, securities and bonds or funds) with a maximum threshold per case, aiming to prevent taxpayers from having to bear the costs resulting from remediation of environmental damage;
- develop a harmonised EU methodology for calculating the maximum liability threshold;
- compile a study on the introduction of an ELD financial compensation scheme at EU or national level for cases where available remedies are inadequate given the extent of the damage;
- ensure that corporate social responsibility in preventing and remedying environmental harm is taken into account in procurement contracts and the allocation of public funds;
- come forward with a proposal for environmental inspections at EU level without further delay;
- promote action by the EU, its Member States and the international community to step up efforts against environmental crime.
Documents
2021/03/18
EP - Vote in committee
2021/01/29
EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2020/12/21
EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2020/12/18
EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2020/12/09
EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2020/11/30
EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2020/07/14
EP - ROOSE Caroline (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in DEVE
2020/06/15
EP - MANDERS Antonius (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in JURI
2020/06/10
EP - CANFIN Pascal (Renew) appointed as rapporteur in ENVI
2020/04/23
EP - BRICMONT Saskia (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in LIBE
2020/02/13
EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
Documents
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2021)538
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament: T9-0259/2021
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Committee report tabled for plenary: A9-0112/2021
- Committee opinion: PE657.389
- Committee opinion: PE658.919
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE663.019
- Committee opinion: PE658.987
- Committee draft report: PE660.299
- Committee draft report: PE660.299
- Committee opinion: PE658.987
- Amendments tabled in committee: PE663.019
- Committee opinion: PE658.919
- Committee opinion: PE657.389
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2021)538
Activities
- Nicola BEER
Plenary Speeches (2)
- Gilles LEBRETON
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Antonius MANDERS
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Rainer WIELAND
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Gunnar BECK
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Caroline ROOSE
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Carmen AVRAM
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Bettina VOLLATH
Plenary Speeches (1)
- Ciarán CUFFE
Plenary Speeches (1)
Votes
Responsabilité des entreprises pour les dommages causés à l'environnement - Liability of companies for environmental damage - Agentur der Europäischen Union für Grundrechte: Zwischenbericht - A9-0112/2021 - Antonius Manders - Proposition de résolution #
2021/05/20 Outcome: +: 536, -: 121, 0: 36
The Left
NI| Amendments | Dossier |
| 480 |
2020/2027(INI)
2020/11/05
LIBE
61 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that environmental protection is a fundamental right according to Article 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Considers that today’s environmental degradation has far-reaching consequences for a wide range of human rights; considers that prevention measures and criminal sanctions are important deterrents against environmental damage
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Considers that today’s environmental degradation has far-reaching consequences for a wide range of human rights, including the right to life, liberty, health and safety; considers that prevention and criminal sanctions are important deterrents against environmental damage;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Considers that today’s environmental degradation has far-reaching and long lasting consequences for a wide range of human rights; considers that prevention and criminal sanctions are important deterrents against environmental damage;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Recalls that damage to ecosystems and the environment pose the risk to trigger disease, environmental disasters, irreversible climate change, contamination of the food chain, reduced life expectancy and ultimately the death of human beings;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Stresses the importance, besides of remedies after the damage is done, of comprehensive and effective actions aiming at preventing environmental offences;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Deplores the low detection, investigation, prosecution, and conviction rate for environmental crime;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Believes that the rule of proportional liability should apply depending on the strength of the companies
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Deplores the lack of effective implementation of EU directives that aim to establish criminal liability of legal persons for environmental offences1 ; stresses the
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that environmental protection is a fundamental right according to Article 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; considers that a clean and unpolluted environment is essential for human physical and intellectual development, the evolution of life and optimum quality of life;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Deplores the lack of effective implementation of EU directives that aim to establish criminal liability of legal persons for environmental offences1 committed intentionally or as a result of gross negligence; stresses the urgent need to update such legislation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to allocate appropriate financial and human resources to preventing, investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Deplores the lack of effective implementation of EU directives that aim to establish
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Deplores the lack of effective implementation of EU directives that aim to establish criminal liability of legal persons for environmental offences1 ; stresses the urgent need to update such legislation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to allocate appropriate financial and human resources to preventing, investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes; and to ensure that all Member states and companies have a proper environmental crisis management procedure at both national and transnational levels; _________________ 1 Directive 2004/35/CE on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage, Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through criminal law, and Directive 2009/123/EC amending Directive 2005/35/EC.
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Deplores the lack of effective implementation of EU directives that aim to establish criminal liability of legal persons for environmental offences1 ; stresses the urgent need to update such legislation and to find more effective implementation means; calls on the Commission and the Member States to allocate appropriate financial and human resources to preventing, investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes; _________________ 1 Directive 2004/35/CE on environmental
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Stresses the need to confiscate the proceeds of environmental crimes, and to use them for social purposes aiming at repairing the damage and improving the environment;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Stresses the need of a transparent, liable and ambitious internal environmental policy and governance in companies, as well as the importance of a reinforced and high skilled team monitoring and enforcing such environmental policy, stressing the focus on prevention measures;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to make full use of Article 83(2) TFEU and to consider the adoption of an overall framework directive on environmental offences; calls on the Commission to evaluate the possibility of a legislative proposal for the crime of ecocide and of including environmental crimes among the categories of offences in Article 83(1) TFEU; calls on the EU and the Member States to work to extend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to include ecocide, making it clear that large-scale environmental crimes can be equated with deliberate human rights infringements or outright acts of war;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to make full use of Article 83(2) TFEU and to consider the adoption of an overall framework directive on environmental offences defining which behaviours to be punished, the nature of infrigements, the types of offences, the reparation regimes, the restoration measures and the sanctions, including overall liability of legal persons; calls on the Commission to evaluate the possibility of a legislative proposal for the crime of ecocide and of including environmental crimes among the categories of offences in Article 83(1) TFEU;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that environmental protection is a fundamental right according to Article 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; stresses that environmental crimes undermine the rule of law in the EU and seriously hamper the EU’s aim of establishing an area of freedom, security and justice;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls on the Commission to make full use of Article 83(2) TFEU and to consider the adoption of an overall framework directive on environmental offences and effective and proportionate sanctions; calls on the Commission to evaluate the possibility of a legislative proposal for the crime of ecocide and of including environmental crimes among the categories of offences in Article 83(1) TFEU;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Considers that ecocide should be internationally recognised as a crime, and as a core crime that can be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court (ICC);
Amendment 32 #
5. Recognises the direct or indirect connection between environmental offences and transnational organised crime and corruption2;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Recognises the direct or indirect connection between environmental offences and transnational organised crime and corruption2
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Recognises the direct or indirect connection between environmental offences and transnational organised crime and corruption2 ; urges, therefore, EU and Member States to provide competent authorities with adequate investigative powers to tackle environmental crimes _________________ 2 See the report for EFFACE ‘Organised Crime and Environmental Crime: Analysis of International Legal Instruments’ (2015), or the study ‘Transnational environmental crime threatens sustainable development’ (2019).
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Recognises the direct or indirect connection between environmental offences and transnational organised crime and corruption2 ; calls on Europol to update the study made in 20152a and regularly provide updated data; _________________ 2 See the report for EFFACE ‘Organised Crime and Environmental Crime: Analysis of International Legal Instruments’ (2015), or the study ‘Transnational environmental crime threatens sustainable development’ (2019). 2a https://www.europol.europa.eu/publicatio ns-documents/report-environmental- crime-in-europe
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls on the Commission, Europol and Eurojust to provide support and a more institutionalised structure for existing networks of practitioners such as the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE) and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE) with the participation of all EU Member States; calls for a reinforced action of the Europol EnviCrimeNet; calls on Europol and Eurojust to reinforce documentation, investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes;
Amendment 37 #
6. Calls on the Commission, Europol and Eurojust to provide further financial, human and technical support and a more institutionalised structure for existing networks of practitioners, cross- border law enforcement, environmental agencies and specialised prosecutors;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls on the Commission, Europol and Eurojust to provide support and a more institutionalised structure for existing networks of practitioners and, at the same time, encourage improvement in the way Member States exchange information;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls on the Commission,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Calls on the Commission to promote action by the EU, its Member States and the international community to step up efforts against environmental crime;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls on the Commission, Europol and Eurojust to provide operational support and a more effective and institutionalised structure for existing networks of practitioners;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Calls on Member States to set up or reinforce specialised units within their national police services at the appropriate levels for the investigation of environmental offences and to provide them with sufficient human, financial and technical resources, with a view to reinforcing their inspection and enforcement capacity in combating environmental crime;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Underlines the importance of investing in adequate funding and staffing levels for Europol, Eurojust and EPPO;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 b (new) 6 b. Calls on the Member States to set up networks where prosecutors and judges specialised in environmental crime can exchange experience and assist one another, with a view to improving the effectiveness of combating this crime;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 c (new) 6 c. Calls on Europol to set up a dedicated unit competent to collect, store, process, analyse and exchange information to support and strengthen Member States in preventing, detecting and investigating environmental crime;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 d (new) 6 d. Stresses the importance of (e- )training for law enforcement actors in environmental crime, and calls on CEPOL to intensify its trainings in this field; recognises that sufficient resources must be made available to CEPOL;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 e (new) 6 e. Calls on Member States to encourage the use of Joint Investigation Teams in transnational environmental crime cases, which facilitates the coordination of investigations and prosecutions conducted in parallel across several Member States.
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of extending the mandate of the EPPO in future to cover such offences and to establish an environmental crimes section at the European Court of Justice with powers similar to those of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which enforces the 'polluter pays' principle, encompassing compensation for victims;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of extending the mandate of the EPPO
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Recognises that Environmental damage has a relevant impact on human health and access to natural resources;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7 a. Deplores lack of awareness on the seriousness of the crimes involved in environmental criminality, among the public and within law enforcement; stresses in this respect the importance of raising public and law enforcement professionals awareness on the seriousness and increasing diffusion of environmental crimes in the EU; calls for systematic statistics and data collection on the environmental crimes in the EU;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up protection and support schemes for the victims of environmental damage and to ensure their full access to justice, information and compensation, especially for those who have to migrate as a consequence of an environmental damage; emphasises the key role of environmental NGOs in raising awareness and taking legal action and calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide them with the appropriate financial support; Reiterates the importance to enable individuals or environmental NGOs to seek remedies and injunctive reliefs if public authorities fail to act to address environmental violations.
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up protection and support schemes for the victims of environmental damage and to ensure their full access to justice, information and compensation; emphasises the key role of environmental NGOs in raising awareness and taking legal action and calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide them with the appropriate financial support in accordance with well- established criteria.
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up protection and support schemes for the victims of environmental damage and to ensure their
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Stresses the importance of the collection of systematic, reliable and up- to-date statistics on environmental crime; calls on the Commission to oblige Member States to provide all relevant statistics covering all reported environmental offences in a standardised form; calls on the Commission to publish a quantitative analysis of the provided data on environmental crimes, with a view to assessing the effectiveness of national systems and to provide recommendations on how to adapt them in order to fight environmental crime more effectively.
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Emphasises the crucial role of environmental human rights defenders striving for rights and fundamental freedoms as they relate to the enjoyment of a safe, healthy and sustainable environment, and strongly condemns any form of violence, harassment and intimidation perpetrated against them; calls on the Member States to ensure proper and effective investigation and prosecution of those acts.
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Calls of the Commission toset up a tool that would allow EU citizens to report, in an anonymous manner and without fear of retaliation, to the appropriate European or Member State regulatory authorities and investigative teams, potential environmental crimes;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8 b. Is convinced of the need of an international approach to environmental crime due to its global impact on societies; calls on the Commission to address environmental crimes in the relevant EU legislation including in the forthcoming mandatory due diligence legislation in global supply chains; calls furthermore, on the Commission and Member States to raise awareness and promote solutions in international fora including on the protection of human environmental rights defenders and the recognition of ecocide in international law; ; highlights, in this regards the example of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime bringing together five international organisations;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8 b. Stresses the importance of creating a centralised online repository with data related to environmental crimes and illegal conduct that harm the environment in the Member States, in order to help cross- border law enforcement in detecting, investigating and prosecuting such crimes;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8 b. Calls on the Member States to set up dedicated reporting points for environmental crime, in order to encourage citizens to report possible environmental offences to the authorities;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1 b. Recalls that environmental crime is the fourth most lucrative crime in the planet according to UN Environment, being traffic and illegal waste management in the top of these environmental crimes.
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 c (new) Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 c (new) 8 c. Calls on the Member States to increase the level of expertise of prosecutors and judges in environmental crimes and its effects, with a view to more efficiently prosecuting and sanctioning environmental crime.
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 c (new) 1 c. Stresses that environmental crimes pose a growing threat to peace and security, sustainable development and environmental rule of law;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 d (new) 1 d. Recognises that unsustainable practices and lack of ambition for environmental protection within companies are a hindrance for reaching the objectives set in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially those set in goals 3, 9, 12,13, 14 and 15;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Considers that today’s environmental degradation has far-reaching consequences for a wide range of human rights; considers that prevention and criminal sanctions are important deterrents against environmental damage; deplores that not all environmental crimes are currently recognised in Europe as such, which leads to inadequate and low sanctions; stresses that both corporations and individuals should be held accountable for criminal violations of environmental law;
source: 658.928
2020/11/13
DEVE
77 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Recital A a (new) Aa. whereas in recent years the European Parliament has adopted a proactive role in pushing for environmental liability regime for environmental and human right harms occurring in third countries; notably with the adoption of its resolution of 25 October 2016 on corporate liability for serious human rights abuses in third countries;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental criminality is a growing threat to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda and is concerned that environmental crimes often go undetected due to the reticence or inefficiency of law enforcement; calls for the recognition of the right to a healthy and sustainable environment at the UN level;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental criminality is a growing threat to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda; calls for the recognition of the right to a healthy and sustainable environment at the UN level, which shall subsequently entail the corresponding duty to prosecute those who violate those rights;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental criminality is a growing threat to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, in particular in developing countries; calls for the recognition of the right to a healthy and sustainable environment at the UN level;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Recalls that the Union should not merely promote a high level of environmental protection on its own territory, but should also take all possible action to prevent environmental damage anywhere in the world caused by companies based in Member States; recalls that environmental damage is particularly frequent and serious in developing countries due to factors such as less stringent legislative frameworks for environmental protection or the industrial and extractive activity of multinational corporations in those countries;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Recalls that, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Interpol, the monetary value of environmental crime is between USD 70 billion and USD 213 billion per year; stresses that illegal trade in animals and forest products mostly affects developing countries; calls on the EU to step up its support for these countries in combating illegal trafficking that affects the environment, deprives them of additional sources of income and hampers their social and economic development;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Stresses that people in developing countries are directly dependent on biodiversity for their food-, health- and economic security; deplores the fact that the degradation of biodiversity due to environmental crime and the resulting loss of resources increase their vulnerability;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Calls on the Commission to consider a proposal for a reform of the Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law in order to broaden the list of types of conduct classified as environmental offences and to establish a minimum framework of penalties to ensure that it has a deterrent effect throughout the EU; Urges the EU to make the fight against environmental crime an overriding strategic political priority in international judicial cooperation and for the EU institutions and COPs, notably by promoting compliance with MEAs through the adoption of criminal sanctions, through exchanges of best practices and by promoting the enlargement of the scope of the International Criminal Court to cover criminal acts that amount to ecocide;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Urges the EU to
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Recital A b (new) Ab. whereas Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration and Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration recognise the sovereign right of states to exploit their own natural resources, but equally the responsibility, or obligation, not to cause damage to the environment of other states or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Urges the EU to make the fight against environmental crime a
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Urges the EU to make the fight against environmental crime an overriding strategic political priority in international judicial cooperation and for the EU institutions and COPs, notably by promoting compliance with MEAs through the adoption of criminal sanctions, through exchanges of best practices and by promoting the enlargement of the scope of the International Criminal Court to
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Urges the EU to
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Welcomes the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the priority given to the protection of fauna and flora in the negotiation of trade agreements with developing countries; recalls the European Commission’s commitment to revise the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking, notably illegal ivory trafficking; calls, in this connection, for the African elephant, threatened with extinction as a result of the illegal ivory trade, to be included in Annex 1 to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up protection schemes for the victims of environmental damage and to ensure their full access to justice, compensation and assistance;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Stresses that the EU environmental liability regime shall respect policy coherence for development (PCD) and the do-no-harm principle;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 b (new) 2b. Welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to improve the implementation of the Aarhus Convention and to address the concerns expressed by the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee regarding the EU’s compliance with its international obligations under the Convention;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 c (new) 2c. Calls on the European Commission and the Member States to promote the ratification of the Aarhus Convention with third countries (Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters) and to play an active role in the Task Force on Access to Justice for sharing of information, experiences and good practices of relevant jurisprudence with third countries;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 d (new) 2d. Calls on the Commission and the Member States promote the principles of the Aarhus Convention in international organizations and international processes relating to the environment;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Recalls that the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) is crucial to the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle; deplores the fact that liability rules have largely not been applied and are unable to fulfil their compensatory and preventive functions; believes that, in order to ensure effective compliance with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, the Environmental Liability Directive should establish a strict liability regime for any kind of environmental damage or situation of imminent danger to the environment, including in situations where damage is the result of explicitly authorised activities or where the potential damage of such actions could not have been known when the actions took place, and provide for the non- applicability of statutory limitations to penalty proceedings;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Recital A c (new) Ac. whereas human rights abuses and environmental harms have been observed in many developing countries, including expropriation of land from indigenous people and local communities, modern slavery, ecosystems destruction, water pollution or overexploitation of natural resources;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Recalls that the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) is crucial to the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle; deplores the fact that liability
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Believes that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) could play a complementary role to environmental liability, as duly compliance with CSR and CER can reduce the likelihood of environmental harm; considers important in this sense that this commitments should be connected to mandatory obligations towards sustainable value creation, including the enforcing of non-financial reporting obligations, also through sanctioning mechanisms;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Considers that, in order to achieve a high level of environmental protection, the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive should be extended to include any type of conduct that is harmful to or creates an immediate risk for the environment, especially any type of imminent risk for, or damage to, water and soil;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Recalls that ex-post liability rules should complement ex-ante safety regulation and market-based instrument (such as environmental taxation) aiming at the reduction of environmental harm to fulfil the objectives of prevention and compensation;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Considers that a new legislation is urgently needed in order to establish clear, robust and enforceable cross- sectoral requirements on business enterprises to respect human rights and the environment and to carry out due diligence; stresses that such legislation should follow a cross-commodity approach, apply to all economic actors in the supply chain, including financial actors, both upstream and downstream, be accompanied by a robust reporting, disclosure and enforcement mechanism, including effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties for non-compliance;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Reiterates the need to strengthen standards in terms of mandatory disclosure of information by undertakings in the remit of the revision of Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on non-financial reporting, notably by including an enforcement and sanctioning mechanism to support the reporting requirements;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Highlights the barriers to holding companies liable for environmental harm, such as the regime of limited liability, insolvency, barriers to access to justice, latency and causal uncertainty; in particular, reminds that the liability mechanism often remains ineffective as “limited liability” enables de facto companies not to pay for the harm they have caused through their activities due to insolvency;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Highlights the barriers to holding companies liable for environmental harm, such as the regime of limited liability, insolvency, barriers to access to justice, latency and causal uncertainty and the lack of detail in the assessment criteria for environmental damage;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Highlights the barriers to holding companies
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Recital A d (new) Ad. whereas there is an increasing number of cases where victims of pollution caused by subsidiaries of European companies try to bring environmental liability lawsuits against parent companies before courts in the EU;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Welcomes the efforts made by some leading enterprises and corporations on implementing voluntary measures on upholding human rights and environmental standards; Recognizes, however, that voluntary efforts do not suffice and that a comprehensive framework is vital to tackle environmental criminality and protect and uphold universal environmental standards;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Considers that all Member States should establish strict civil liability regimes to determine the redress to be provided for any direct damage caused to individuals as a result of environmental damage caused by an operator; calls on the Commission to present a legislative proposal to that effect.
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Underlines that the environmental liability of companies should be connected to the global dimension of production processes and of value creation and that this perspective requires further efforts to define broader and more effective rules;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4b. Recalls that the regulatory framework of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) is flawed, as the rules enshrined in Multilateral Environmental Agreements do not bind multinational corporations under international law; recalls that there is no EU legal instrument addressing the possibility of prosecuting European companies abroad for environmental crimes or activities causing environmental damage; therefore, stresses that the current system of reliance on national laws is likely to underestimate the gravity of corporate environmental damage; on this ground, calls on the EU and its Member States to provide for access to justice by allowing victims to take the parent company to Court in the EU, notably in a context where many host state legal systems are inadequate;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 b (new) 4b. Reiterates the need for a common regulatory framework that holds companies accountable but at the same time enables companies and consumers to make transparent decisions and has the ability to make use of the mechanisms of the free market in order to minimize violations of human rights and ecological and social standards in the future;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 c (new) 4c. Recognises that the feasibility of a judicial framework for the criminalisation, penalisation and redress of environmental damages and crimes is linked to the technical ability of EU businesses and companies (including those operating from within the EU) to ensure that environmental standards are upheld throughout the entirety of their supply chain and in their partnership with companies and local authorities in third countries; Believes, therefore, that the EU must develop an inclusive approach to corporate liability, which regards the feasibility of seamless monitoring supply chains of companies and businesses of all particular sizes; insists on the necessity to create a level playing field for businesses and companies to uphold human rights and environmental standards which allows for the best possible freedom of action while ensuring accountability and due diligence; Considers it therefore vital to adopt a size-, risk based and sector- specific approach in the evaluation of further liability of companies for environmental damages;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Notes that companies may abuse their limited liability to invest in hazardous industries through separate legal entities in order to externalise environmental costs; recalls the governance gap in global value chains; calls for the scope of strict liability to be extended to parent companies to avoid the risk of moral hazard; stresses the importance of free trade agreements signed by the EU incorporating clauses ensuring a high level of environmental protection in connection with industrial production in developing countries;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Notes that companies may abuse their limited liability to invest in hazardous industries through separate legal entities in order to externalise environmental costs; recalls the governance gap in global value chains; calls
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Recital A e (new) Ae. whereas human rights abuses and environmental harms are often deeply linked and need accordingly be tackled through an holistic approach;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Notes that companies may abuse their limited liability to invest in hazardous industries through separate legal entities in order to externalise environmental costs; recalls the governance gap in global value chains; calls for the scope of strict liability to be extended to parent companies all through the supply chain to avoid the risk of moral hazard;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Notes that some companies may
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Notes that companies play an important role in the system of ELD, however, given the administrative nature of the ELD, there is a crucial role for the administrative authorities to take the initiative, reacting rapidly, in case of a detected environmental harm, as well as taking adequate actions to prevent future harms;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls for the examination of the development of
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls for the development a harmonised framework of mandatory solvency guarantees to cover the ELD liabilities of companies in the event of insolvency to boost the preventive effect of said directive and to search for an optimal mix between future EU legislation on mandatory environmental due diligence, and administrative, civil and criminal enforcement regimes aiming to address environmental harm;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Calls for setting up or improving protecting mechanisms and specific legal measures defining environmental defenders, recognising their work and guaranteeing their protection; retains it essential to define regulatory frameworks that ensure early and constant involvement of local communities and accessible channels for reporting environmental risks;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Recalls that a major problem with violations of environmental regulations is that the probability of detection is low; against this background, calls for the introduction of punitive damage for environmental liability under the ELD; believes that corporate liability should be combined with individual liability to fight corporate crime effectively;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 b (new) 6b. Recalls that a system of corporate liability for human rights abuses is currently being negotiated in the UN, within the UNHRC’s open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises concerning human rights (OEIGWG); but deplores that the Commission has no mandate from the Council to conduct negotiations on behalf of the EU concerning its participation in the OEIGWG; urges once more the EU and its Member States to engage actively and constructively in the process, with the view to adopt a binding and enforceable UN Treaty on business and human rights;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental criminality is a growing threat to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda; calls for the recognition of the right to a healthy and sustainable environment at the UN level; Recalls that due diligence is primarily a preventative mechanism and companies should be first and foremost required to identify risks or adverse impacts and adopt policies and measures to address them; emphasises that if an undertaking causes or contributes to an adverse impact it should provide for a remedy and should be subject to corporate accountability for such impacts; stresses that corporate accountability, including for harms linked to an undertaking’s operations, is necessary to ensure undertakings are incentivised to undertake due diligence and for due diligence to be effective;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Stresses the need to improve access to justice for victims of environmental harm, i.e. through collective actions and redress mechanisms, primarily under a binding and enforceable UN treaty on business and human rights; recalls in this regard the exemplary role that the future mandatory due diligence directive should play in connection with the establishment of mechanisms to ensure that victims of environmental damage in third countries have effective access to justice in Member States when the harmful activities have been carried out by companies based in an EU Member State or by legal persons under the control of such companies; calls on the Union and its Member States to push for the creation of an international independent authority in the field of environmental liability.
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Stresses the need to improve access to justice for victims of environmental harm, i.e. through collective actions and redress mechanisms, primarily under a binding and enforceable UN treaty on business and human rights
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Stresses the need to improve access to justice for victims of environmental harm, i.e. through collective actions and redress mechanisms,
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Stresses the need to improve access to justice for victims of environmental harm, i.e. through collective actions, representative actions and redress mechanisms,
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Stresses the need to improve access to justice for victims of environmental harm, i.e. through collective actions and redress mechanisms, primarily under a
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7c. Stresses the crucial role of environmental defenders and civil society organisations in developing countries in preventing and combating environmentally damaging actions; recalls that these actors can face physical and psychological violence in many forms intended to suppress their actions; calls on the European Commission to strengthen the framework for their protection, in particular through financial instruments for development aid, in order to guarantee their rights and highlight their fight for the protection, preservation and restoration of the environment;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Emphasises the need for good governance to uphold and enforce applicable laws on liability of companies for environmental damages; Calls for an increased support to local authorities and governments of developing countries to harmonize domestic legislation and policies with international environmental standards in an effort to strengthen national enforcement relating to due diligence and corporate liability in third countries; Urges the need to tackle corruption and to hold governments, that use development or investment funding to tolerate or endorse environmental damages by state owned and private companies to account;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Underlines that international law has evolved to embrace new concepts such as “the Common heritage of humanity”, “Sustainable Development”, “Future Generations”; but stresses that there is no permanent international mechanism to monitor and address environmental damage/destruction that significantly and durably alter the global commons or ecosystem services; to this end, calls on the EU and its Member States to support a paradigm shift to include ecocide and the right of future generations in international environmental law;.
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Stresses that the ELD sets out a closed list of activities that can give rise to companies' liability for environmental damage besides damage to biodiversity; underlines that this approach seriously limits the application of the “polluter pays” principle; calls for the provision of liability for all companies and for any environmental damage regardless of the activities performed, in particular when the damage was due to the company's fault or serious negligence;
Amendment 7 #
1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental criminality is a growing threat to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Recalls that environmental liability should be properly implemented and enforced to better preserve biodiversity resources, and make sure that any unlawful habitat conversion is reversed, and restoration costs are borne by the responsible entity;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7b. Recalls that there is but one ocean and that in terms of the services it provides to all humanity, it is a common good; recalls that Part 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea confers sovereign rights on States over their exclusive economic zones and freedom of navigation beyond areas under jurisdiction; recalls, however, that this does not relieve states, and consequently national actors, in particular companies acting at sea, of their responsibility for the preservation of marine and coastal ecosystems; stresses, in this regard, the importance of ensuring the environmental liability of companies for the risks associated with the exploitation of marine resources and maritime transport in the waters of developing countries;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7b. Underlines the role of civil society organisations and individuals in the protection of the environment; notes that the ELD doesn’t allow for civil society organisations nor individuals to file claims against companies for alleged violations of the directive; calls for the right of affected physical and legal persons to file claims against companies on the basis of the ELD; further calls for the facilitation of representative actions by NGOs against breaches of environmental norms by companies;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7b. Stresses the need to strengthen civil society and local actors in third countries and developing countries to hold government authorities accountable for state-tolerated or endorsed environmental damage by private and state-owned companies;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7b. Calls the establishment of clear liability rules for importers, processors and retailers to ensure full legality and transparency of the supply chain of all agricultural commodities to prevent natural habitats destruction in and outside of the EU;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 c (new) 7c. Notes that the definition of environmental damage set out in the ELD hampers the effective protection of the environment by artificially separating damage to protected species and natural habitats, water damage and land damage; calls for the definition of environmental damage to be modified in order to take a more holistic approach;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 c (new) 7c. Supports the correct implementation of the ELD, by encouraging member states to record data on ELD incidents and publish ELD registers and gather the necessary data that can document that the application of the Directive in their country is effective and efficient;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 d (new) 7d. Notes that the threshold of “significance” required for a damage to fall under the scope of application of the directive has proved too high in practice to allow for sufficient protection of the environment; calls for the removal of this threshold or its clarification in order to remove barriers to the protection of the environment;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental criminality is a growing threat to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda; calls for
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Recalls that the global rise in environmental criminality is a growing threat to the achievement of the UN’s 2030 Agenda; calls for the recognition of the right to a healthy and sustainable environment at the UN level; Recognizes the need for and urges EU Member States to establish a mandatory, harmonised framework at Union level and to avoid strictly national efforts on Member State levels;
source: 660.080
2020/11/26
ENVI
171 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion Recital A a (new) Aa. whereas the European Green Deal, sets the ambition of zero-pollution, to be delivered through a cross cutting strategy to protect citizens’ health from environmental degradation and pollution while at the same time calls for a just transition that leaves nobody behind;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion Recital A j (new) Aj. whereas the ELD complements main pieces of EU environmental legislation, to which it is directly or indirectly linked, in particular the Habitat Directive1a, the Birds Directive2a, the Water Framework Directive3a, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive4a and the Offshore Safety Directive5a; __________________ 1aCouncil Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. 2aDirective 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds. 3aDirective 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action. in the field of water policy. 4aDirective 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy 5aDirective 2013/30/EUof the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on safety of offshore oil and gas operations
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7.
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls on the Commission to facilitate, and on Member States to use, administrative fines and preventive and remedial measures as complementary tools alongside criminal sanctions;
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls on the Commission to
Amendment 103 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Considers that the framework should oblige companies to have an effective reporting mechanism that should be transparent, accessible and trustworthy; considers that such a mechanism should provide effective mediation and remedies to victims of environmental damage and associated human rights violations; believes that special protections should be provided to indigenous peoples, environmental whistle-blowers, and human rights defenders;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Regrets the disjointed and limited transposition of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) by the Member States and supports a thorough overhaul of the Directive, including a revision as a binding Regulation;
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 b (new) 7b. Notes that data and statistics on environmental crimes and enforcement actions in Member States are very limited, fragmented and neither consistent nor comparable with data in other Member States, thereby making it difficult to establish whether the ECD resulted in a level playing field in relation to investigation, prosecution and sanctioning across Member States, or whether national enforcement and sanctioning systems are a deterrence in practice and also resulting in lack of awareness about this type of crime and its scale and impact; calls, therefore, for the ECD to include requirements for Member States on data collection, publication and reporting, while using synergies with existing reporting obligations for Member States under the EU sectoral legislation listed in the annexes to the Directive;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 Amendment 107 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8.
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive’s (ELD) strict liability to be expanded to non- Annex III activities to cover all damage to the environment, as well as to human health, such as air pollution by cars violating EU car emissions legislation so as to improve the effectiveness of the legislation in implementing the ‘polluter pays’ principle; considers that such extension of scope would streamline the ELD with other EU legislation on protecting human health and the environment and would facilitate adding provisions to the ELD, such as including a requirement to carry out preventive measures and emergency remedial action, either in the directive itself or in national law implementing it;
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) to be expanded as part of its revision to cover all damage to the environment, particularly damage to species and habitats not listed in the Annexes to Directives 2009/147/EC and 92/43/EEC, and land damage (other than land contamination that creates a significant risk of human health being adversely affected);
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) to be expanded to cover all observation- based damage to the environment, excluding future worst-case climate modelling scenarios without direct empirical proof of cause;
Amendment 111 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) to be expanded to cover all damage to the environment, especially any type of damage or an imminent threat of damage to water and soil, and to include diffuse pollution;
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) to be expanded to cover all damage to the environment; stresses that it would be advisable to differentiate between damage caused intentionally, wilfully or through negligence and damage where liability is objective and unlimited;
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) to be expanded to cover all damage to the environment; calls for better monitoring of all such damage at EU level with a view to finding viable solutions as soon as possible;
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD)
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) to be expanded to cover all damage to the environment, be it to land, the marine environment or the atmosphere;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Notes with concern that the 2016 Commission Implementation Report on the ELD1a concluded that eleven Member States have reported no ELD damage incidents since 2007 and stated that this is ‘’possibly because they deal with cases exclusively under their national system’’; Urges the Commission to assume its responsibility for effective implementation of the Directive and properly look into the issue of no or low number of cases of environmental damage treated in accordance with the ELD in Member States and to conclusively outline the reasons for this and remedy the situation jointly with the Member states, considers that if applicable it should launch own- initiative infringement proceedings; __________________ 1ahttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:5201 6DC0204&from=EN
Amendment 117 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Points out that since 2010 the ELD has had a positive impact on the protection and development of environmental policies in the Member States, although there are still significant gaps in its implementation that must be remedied in the short term;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Deplores the lack of effective implementation and enforcement of EU Directives that aim to establish and remediate the criminal liability of legal persons for environmental offences; calls for the ELD to be revised as soon as possible and to be fully transformed into a fully harmonised regulation in order to achieve a level-playing field for EU industry;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Regrets that the implementation of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) in the Member States has not been coordinated and has lacked harmonisation and effectiveness, leading to implementation deficiencies, considerable variability in the number of cases between Member States, and an unlevel playing field for operators;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Considers that all companies should be
Amendment 120 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Considers it necessary that a genuine civil liability regime be created in the revised ELD framework, ensuring that not only companies as legal entities, but also directors - managers and members of the board - be held personally liable for the pure environmental damage inflicted on the environment; is further convinced that victims should be entitled to a full right to reparation of the harm suffered;
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Notes that it is important for the competent national authorities to take preventive measures to remedy any situation involving the insolvency or incapacity of operators that would hinder compensation and remedial measures for the environmental harm caused, and to prevent this harm from occurring in the first place;
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Stresses the importance of clear and transparent legislation; calls on the Commission to apply the lex certa principle when revising the ELD and to ensure expressly that the legislation is sufficiently clear to allow legal subjects to obey applicable law;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. further considers that diffuse form of pollution should also be effectively incorporated in a comprehensive revision of the liability framework, stresses in particular that companies whose activities notably result in the production, use or release of hazardous chemicals, nanoplastics, pesticides, CO2 and other GHG emissions, should also be held liable; calls on the Commission to erase Article 4(5) of the ELD and remove the causal link between damage and the activities of individual operators;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Points out that the different interpretations and application of the “significance threshold” for environmental damage has been identified as a main reason for the uneven application of the ELD; calls, therefore, for a more consistent application and better clarification and guidance of the threshold of “significant damage” in the context of the ELD;
Amendment 125 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Notes that while Art. 6(2) of the Habitats Directive and the ELD pursue the same objective to ensure favourable conservation status of protected habitats and species, the application of both directives is not coordinated or harmonised, with the interpretation of environmental damage under the ELD leading to an interpretation and application of the ELD by most Member States based on higher thresholds than the Habitats Directive, leaving the remediation of habitats and species damage to national authorities and tax payers instead of to operators responsible for the damage; calls, therefore, for the clarification and harmonisation of the “significant” damage to biodiversity threshold and the criteria for its definition, and the alignment of the environmental liability regime to the Habitats Directive Article 6(2);
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 a (new) 8a. Notes that the activities listed in Annex III do not sufficiently cover the sectors that could potentially give rise to environmental damage; points out that there are activities with potential negative impacts on biodiversity and the environment, such as the pipeline transport of hazardous substances outside of industrial establishments covered by Annex III, mining, the introduction of invasive alien species and shale gas operations, that are currently not covered by the requirement for strict liability;
Amendment 127 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8b. Calls on the Commission to consider that businesses are only liable to prosecution if they have failed to exercise their duty of care under due diligence requirements or if they have not or have insufficiently set up a management system, such as an environmental management system pursuant Regulation (EU) 1221/2009, or have failed to properly implement it, and where it can be established that such failure caused environmental damage;
Amendment 128 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8b. recalls that significant industrial accidents too often result in the insolvency of the responsible private operator, transferring the financial burden of reparation to public authorities; therefore calls on the Commission to impose in the revised ELD regime mandatory financial guarantees on all companies conducting activities implying environmental risks;
Amendment 129 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 b (new) 8b. Calls on the Commission to duly assess the information provided in reports referred to in Article 18(1) in particular the ratio between instances of environmental damage and instances of liability and to request reasoning in case of low correlation between the two;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Reiterates that environmental crime continues to cause irreversible damage to our environment, biodiversity and human health; believes that undertakings should have a strict liability obligation to take all reasonable measures to prevent environmental damages and human rights infringements from occurring in their supply chain; and to adequately address such impacts as they arise; Considers that companies should be exposed to the full social costs of the environmental harm they are causing in order to provide them with incentives to internalise environmental externalities; and prevent the materialization of new damage as prevention and enforcement of criminal and civil sanctions are important deterrents against environmental damage;
Amendment 130 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 c (new) 8c. Calls on the Commission to take action, including legal action where applicable, to ensure that the lengthy procedures in Member States legally deciding on liability for environmental burdens do not jeopardise the objective of high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment as enshrined in EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 131 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 8 c (new) 8c. Calls on the Commission to include in its legislative proposal revising the ELD regime a fund for ELD liabilities at EU or national level; considers that the existing exclusion of diffuse pollution in Article 4(5) of the ELD should be erased;
Amendment 132 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 Amendment 133 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9.
Amendment 136 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Calls for the removal of the options to invoke a ‘permit defence’ and a ‘state of the art defence’ under the ELD, in order to promote the ‘polluter pays’ principle while improving the effectiveness of the directive
Amendment 137 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Calls for the
Amendment 138 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Calls for
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 9. Calls for the removal of the options to invoke a ‘permit defence’ and a ‘state of the art defence’ under the revised ELD, in order to promote the ‘polluter pays’ principle while improving the effectiveness of the
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1.
Amendment 140 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Points out that environmental harm knows no borders; believes, therefore, that is vital to establish better cross-border cooperation on information, and on preventing, combating and punishing environmental crimes, for example by making it possible to prosecute offences jointly and simultaneously in several Member States;
Amendment 141 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Stresses that a thriving business culture is just as important to ensure the well-being of EU citizens; stresses that an indispensable component of a thriving business culture is ensuring that entrepreneurs understand the rules they have to follow; notes that when a company fulfils all its legal requirements this should in principle be taken as mitigation against liability;
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up protection and support schemes for the victims of environmental damage and to ensure their full access to justice, information and compensation; emphasises the key role of environmental NGOs in raising awareness and taking legal action and calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide them with the appropriate financial support;
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Stresses that Article 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights only reflects the principle of environmental integration and does not lay down or recognise any individual right to a healthy environment; calls on the Union to work towards achieving recognition at European and international level of the environmental rights of all citizens;
Amendment 144 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Considers that all Member States should establish strict civil liability regimes to determine the redress to be provided for any direct damage caused to individuals as a result of environmental damage caused by an operator; calls on the Commission to present a legislative proposal to that effect;
Amendment 145 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Calls on the Commission to take suitable measures to ensure that environmental legislation is proportionate; points out that environmental protection should not be allowed to become a means to its own end, and that its importance lies in areas where there is a need for regulation and improvement;
Amendment 146 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Calls for a harmonised approach, in particular to the types of penalties/fines that are applied; stresses the need to implement different levels of sanctions for serious crimes at European and national levels in order to prevent future environmental damage;
Amendment 147 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Calls on the Commission to introduce an obligation for companies to secure themselves financially against the cost of remedying environmental damage, specifying that this cost should always be borne by the relevant operator, even if insolvent;
Amendment 148 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Calls for the introduction of the right of private parties of compensation as a consequence of environmental damage or of an imminent threat of such damage.
Amendment 149 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Welcomes the Commission legislative proposal amending the Aarhus Regulation1367/2006 (COM(2020) 642 final) to allow for better public scrutiny of EU acts affecting the environment; in this respect calls on the Council in its capacity as a co-legislator for the effective implementation of the third pillar of the Aarhus Convention to guarantee access to courts for natural persons and NGOs for representative action to directly file a lawsuit against an operator potentially liable for environmental harm;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Considers that companies should be exposed to the full
Amendment 150 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Calls on the Commission to initiate a discussion on introducing a financial compensation scheme for cases where available remedies are inadequate given the extent of the damage; believes that the scope of this discussion should include ways of quantifying environmental damage and look at potential beneficiaries of the scheme (e.g. national environmental protection agencies and NGOs);
Amendment 151 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Acknowledges the intrinsic value of ecosystems and their rights to be protected, calls for the establishment of mechanisms to allow NGO and other affected stakeholders to engage in environmental liability actions on their behalf and asks for the reporting and monitoring of the restoration of ecosystems; also recalls the need of legal recognition of global commons;
Amendment 152 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Notes that the ‘polluter pays’ principle will transfer imperfectly to reality, since companies will have to pass on some of the environmental costs they absorb to their customers; regrets the negative impact that will result from consumers ultimately having to foot the bill.
Amendment 153 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Underlines the importance of adequate training for national judges on environmental law to ensure better application throughout Europe of criminal law on environmental harm;
Amendment 154 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Recalls that it is important to press for international recognition of the right of individuals to a healthy environment and to recognise the intrinsic value of nature;
Amendment 155 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 b (new) 9b. Calls for greater clarity in respect of the role of NGOs in the implementation of the Environmental Crime Directive;
Amendment 156 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 c (new) 9c. Strongly condemns any form of violence, harassment and intimidation perpetrated against environmentalists and human rights defenders; calls on the Member States to ensure proper and effective investigation and prosecution of those acts; emphasises the crucial role of environmental human rights defenders for human rights and fundamental freedom to enjoy a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment; calls on the Union and the Member States to support, at the next UN General Assembly, the global recognition of the right to a healthy environment;
Amendment 157 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 c (new) 9c. Calls on the Commission to amend the legislation on the control of major- accident hazards involving dangerous substances (Directive 2012/18/EU) with the aim of ensuring that the obligation on operators to provide the competent authority with information sufficient to identify the dangerous substances present or likely to be present in their establishment, including their quantity, should also be transferred to operators who run or manage operations where hazardous substances are or may be present in quantities below the values indicated in Annex I to the Directive; notes that this would make it easier to identify those committing potential environmental violations;
Amendment 158 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 c (new) 9c. Applauds that increasingly requirements to report also on non- financial issues are imposed upon companies in order to improve their environmental performance; notes however that reporting on non-financial issues has, until now, not been based on a clear legal duty; calls on the Commission to put an emphasis on the enforcement of those reporting requirements in case of non-performance in the upcoming revision of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD);
Amendment 159 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 c (new) Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Considers that companies should be exposed to the
Amendment 160 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 c (new) 9c. Underlines the importance of having an environmental police force at national and European level to allow independent and effective investigations aimed at combating environmental crimes;
Amendment 161 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 d (new) 9d. Considers that companies convicted for environmental crimes should not been allowed to benefit from any of the measures foreseen for registrants into the transparency register; suggests, to this end, to revise the scope and the code of conduct of the transparency register in order to include provisions on the removal of companies convicted for environmental crimes;
Amendment 162 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 d (new) 9d. Calls for the extension of criminal and civil liability for companies that have a clear link to an EU Member State and that have caused or contributed or are linked to environmental harm in third countries wherever they failed to act with due diligence and took all reasonable measures to prevent the damage.
Amendment 163 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 d (new) 9d. Believes that it is crucial to raise awareness among all actors in society, especially consumers, about the effects of environmental crimes in order to reduce consumption arising from illegal practices and trade and to increase their knowledge of the rights and duties in this area;
Amendment 164 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 d (new) 9d. Calls on the Commission to ensure that corporate social responsibility in preventing and remedying environmental harm is taken into account in procurement contracts and the allocation of public funds.
Amendment 165 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 d (new) 9d. Calls for the application of the directive to have an external dimension, in particular in action alongside third countries;
Amendment 166 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 e (new) 9e. Calls on the Commission to incorporate the principles and objectives underpinning EU environmental policy and human rights safeguards into the environmental chapters of all EU trade agreements; calls for the obligation to effectively implement mandatory human rights due diligence on businesses - including on supply chain traceability and transparency; in that regard calls the commission to ensure that environmental provisions are enforceable and subject to a general dispute settlement mechanism;
Amendment 167 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 e (new) 9e. Points out that the world ocean is a continuous body of water, and that its good environmental status is vital to ensuring its resilience and its continued provision of ecosystem services such as CO2 absorption and oxygen production; notes, too, that any change in marine and coastal ecosystems as a result of illegal practices or trade could diminish its role as a climate regulator;
Amendment 168 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 e (new) 9e. Warns of the need to recognise individuals’ right to a healthy environment.
Amendment 169 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 f (new) 9f. Points out that the ocean is an essential source of food for numerous populations; stresses the importance of continuing and stepping up the fight against IUU fishing, fisheries control and penalties for associated criminal practices, given that intrinsically polluting and illegal activities contribute to the deterioration of the marine environment;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Considers that companies should be exposed to the full social costs of the environmental harm they are causing in order to provide them with incentives to internalise environmental externalities; calls on the Commission to underpin its actions with a comprehensive impact assessment, paying particular attention to small and medium-sized enterprises;
Amendment 170 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 g (new) 9g. Points out that polluting crimes, especially the illegal dumping of substances and waste, contaminate soil, crops, water, and land and marine ecosystems, damaging habitats, flora and fauna, and disrupting the food chain; underlines in this regard the increase in the number of infringements of the law relating to maritime and marine pollution, and the difficulty involved in monitoring and identifying these practices at sea, especially illegal dumping into the sea of waste and containers, vessel degassing and oil tipping so as to avoid treatment costs; calls, therefore, for more stringent control measures, for example measures using satellite observation systems;
Amendment 171 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 h (new) 9h. Welcomes the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the priority given to the protection of fauna and flora, which is essential for the health of our planet and the balance of ecosystems; recalls the European Commission’s commitment to revise the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking, notably illegal ivory trafficking; calls, in this connection, for the African elephant, threatened with extinction as a result of the illegal ivory trade, to be included in Annex 1 to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES);
Amendment 172 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 9 i (new) 9i. Points out that illegal logging, especially of endangered tree species and those in protected areas, continues to increase, destroying biodiversity and contributing to climate change, while threatening access to food and the existence of local communities who depend on these forest resources, especially in developing countries.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Considers that companies should be exposed to the full social costs of the environmental harm
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Considers that companies should be
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion Recital A b (new) Ab. whereas environmental damage, chemicals and climate change causes significant risks to human health from air, soil and water pollution; whereas environmental monitoring data reveals that substantial proportions of the Union’s urban population remain exposed to levels of noise and air pollution that exceed WHO based guidance;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 1. Considers that companies should be exposed to the full societal costs of the environmental harm they are causing in order to provide them with incentives to internalise environmental externalities;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 – point a (new) (a) Notes that the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle is compromised by the exemptions from liability for explicitly authorised activities or activities where the potential for damage could not have been known when they were carried out, and by the need to include negligence in the actions causing environmental damage or an imminent threat thereof among the types of damage not laid down in Annex III to the ELD; believes that liability for environmental damage should be apportioned simply by demonstrating a causal link between an operator’s activity and the damage or imminent threat of such damage; believes that prevention of all forms of environmental damage should be the priority that forms the basis of the Union’s environmental protection legislation;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 – point b (new) (b) Recalls that the Union should not merely promote a high level of environmental protection on its own territory, but should also take all possible action to prevent environmental damage anywhere in the world caused by companies based in Member States; recalls that environmental damage is particularly frequent and serious in developing countries due to factors such as less stringent legislative frameworks for environmental protection or the industrial and extractive capacity of multinational corporations in those countries;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Points out that, according to the joint report by the United Nations Environment Programme and Interpol1a, abuse of the environment is the fourth largest criminal activity in the world, worth up to USD 259 billion, it is converging with other forms of international crime, and it is a growing threat to peace, security and stability; __________________ 1aStrategic Report: Environment, Peace and Security: A Convergence of Threats, UNEP and INTERPOL, December 2016.
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 a (new) 1a. Stresses that the privatisation process in the Central and Eastern European countries in number of cases resulted in purchase agreements with unclear conditions regarding the environmental burdens then present at the site, with these remaining unsolved both from the liability and criminal point of view with significant environmental and health consequences1a __________________ 1a e.g. Chemko Strážske as the most significant environmental burden in Slovakia, 22th November2019 the court hearing took place in order to establish the liable party for the burden, the case is ongoing- from the Special Ombudsman Report October 2020 (‘’Mimoriadna správa verejného ochrancu práv o situácii v riešení environmentálnych záťaží na území Slovenskej republiky’’)
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Is convinced of the need for an international approach to environmental crime due to the global impact and transboundary nature; calls on the Commission to address environmental crimes in the relevant EU legislation including in the forthcoming mandatory due diligence legislation into global supply chains; highlights in this regard the example of the international Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime bringing together five international organisations - the CITES secretariat, INTERPOL, UNODC, the World Bank and the World Customs Organisation (WCO);
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Believes that the EU institutions and national authorities should promote structured dialogue with economic operators to facilitate their compliance with a changing, complex legislative framework; notes that companies need legal certainty through guidance and information prior to the entry into force of environmental regulations;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 b (new) 1b. Considers that the transnational nature of many environmental crimes justifies the need for a robust legal framework at EU level;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 c (new) 1c. considers that the Commission should adopt a mandate to actively engage in bilateral and multilateral fora with the aim of securing an ambitious global level playing field for combatting environmental crime; calls on the Commission and Member States to raise awareness and promote solutions on the protection of environmental rights and the recognition of ecocide in international law; recognises the direct and indirect interrelationship between environmental offences and transnational organised crime and corruption; calls on Europol to update the study commissioned in 2015 and to regularly provide situational updates;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion Recital A c (new) Ac. whereas the European Environment Agency (EEA) is exploring how environmental risks and benefits are distributed across society; whereas recent evidence indicates that poorer European regions are more likely to be exposed to environmental health hazards at levels that negatively affect health;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 1 c (new) 2. Calls on all companies to pursue the objective of sustainable value creation and a triple bottom line with equal attention paid to people, profit and the planet; calls on the Commission to incorporate this objective in relevant legislation as a matter of urgency with a view to establishing, without prejudice to the regulatory regime laid down in the Directive on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, a mandatory due diligence framework concerning the prevention of environmental damage for the general activities of companies in EU territory, which incorporates administrative sanctions that are appropriate, proportionate and dissuasive in the case of non-compliance;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Expresses deep concern that the impact of environmental crimes adversely affects not only biodiversity and the climate system but also human rights and notably human health; urges the Commission to embrace a comprehensive review that considers the risks of the transboundary nature of environmental damage, serious organised crime and corruption together with the risks to human rights and the environment; Calls on all companies to pursue the objective of sustainable value creation and a triple bottom line with equal attention paid to people, profit and the planet; calls on the Commission to incorporate this objective in relevant legislation as a matter of urgency;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Calls on all companies
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Calls on all companies to pursue the objective of sustainable value creation
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Calls on all companies to pursue the objective of sustainable value creation and a triple bottom line with equal attention paid to
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 2. Calls on all companies to p
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Believes that there is a strong need for a mandatory, harmonised liability framework to be updated at Union level to contribute to the achievement of the Green Deal, UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate objectives, and ensure a level playing field throughout the supply chain; In that regard believes that companies should conduct mandatory impact assessments that have full respect for human rights, environmental obligations and in full respect of existing international standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Multinational Enterprise and Social Policy, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, the UN Convention against corruption and the UN Global Compact;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion Recital A d (new) Ad. whereas environmental inequality is a driver of health inequality, fostering feelings of injustice and being “left behind” amongst vulnerable populations;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Notes that there is a national framework in place1a allowing the geological and hydrogeological survey results related to the industrial activities be kept confidential for number of years and that this have led to a significant pollution of the drinking water sources; highlights that confidential treatment should not be given with respect to information which relates to foreseeable effects on human health, animal health or the environment, and such shall be made public without delay in order to be able to establish the causality between the operation and the consequences, to remedy the situation and to appropriately apply the polluter pays principle; urges the Member State to amend national framework accordingly; __________________ 1a[1] Decree no 22/2015 implementing the Act No. 569/2007 Coll., on Geological Works (Slovakia), allows for the results of the survey be kept confidential for up to 10 years and led to an environmental disaster in Western Slovakia
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Encourages the Commission to establish incentives for companies whose sustainability policies voluntarily go beyond environmental and biodiversity standards laid down in law for the purpose of evaluating these policies, distilling best practice, and providing this as an example for other companies to follow;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 a (new) 2a. Stresses the importance of ensuring that free trade agreements signed by the EU incorporate clauses ensuring a high level of environmental protection in developing countries, especially in connection with industrial production and extractive activities;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 2 b (new) 2b. Acknowledges that transitioning to more sustainable and more environmentally friendly production methods can be time and cost-intensive, and points to the importance of legal and administrative certainty for affected businesses;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets the low prosecution rate for environmental cases; believes that this situation highlights the need to undertake a reform of the ELD in order to harmonise the actions of the competent authorities of the Member States concerning inspection activities, the initiation and continuation of sanction procedures, the use of specific environmental damage assessment criteria, the mechanisms for determining liability for environmental damage or an imminent threat of such damage, as well as the prevention of insolvency situations through the introduction of a harmonised framework to guarantee the solvency of companies in the case of sanctions that reinforce the preventive role of the ELD;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets the low prosecution rate for environmental cases, and calls on the Commission to cooperate with the Member States to identify the root causes and suggest remedies to strengthen environmental protections in criminal law;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets the low prosecution rate for environmental cases, including the low fines and subsequent penalties that can be imposed on polluters;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets the low prosecution rate for environmental cases and the gaps in implementation and enforcement of EU environmental crime and liability law across Member States;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion Recital A e (new) Ae. whereas environmental inequality plays out across subsequent generations, such as the accumulation of persistent chemicals in the environment and our food chain, biodiversity loss and climate change; Whereas exposure to developmentally hazardous chemicals during pregnancy can damage the development and functioning of the endocrine system; the immune system and the neurological system (affecting brain development);
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets the low prosecution rate for environmental cases and points out that they should be prosecuted by the competent national authorities;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3. Regrets the low prosecution rate for environmental cases and the significant disparities between Member States;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 3.
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 a (new) 3a. Underlines the need to recognise the liability of Parent companies for the actions or omissions of their subsidiaries and the implementation of a comprehensive monitoring system to provide competent authorities with an effective toolbox to monitor and enforce compliance with environmental and human rights requirements throughout their supply chains, particularly at local level; stresses the importance of harmonisation across the Union
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Is of the opinion that ensuring the liability for environmental damage is key to making European businesses more sustainable over the long term and such an achievement is closely interlinked through the development of related legislation on corporate due diligence, corporate social accountability and sustainable corporate governance;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 b (new) 3b. Calls on the Commission to consider environmental due diligence requirements agreed on international level, such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises1a, when proposing updates to relevant legislation; __________________ 1a http://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/mne/4800432 3.pdf
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 d (new) 3d. Believes that the is also potential for tort law to promote company liability for environmental damage due to irresponsible conduct or decision-making may lead to liability on the basis of their fiduciary relationship; Regrets that Article 7 of the Rome II Regulation* provides an exception to tortious liability for environmental damage; calls on the Commission to revise the regulation to ensure its universal application where persons have failed in their duty of care in relation to environmental damage *Regulation (EC) no.864/2007 (Rome II Regulation)
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 e (new) 3e. Considers that data on total enforcement capacities and enforcement strategies are still lacking; believes that a minimum mandatory due diligence requirement to compel companies to identify, mitigate and monitor for human rights and environmental adverse effects in their supply chain; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to allocate the appropriate financial and human resources to prevent, investigate, prosecute and to ensure that all Member States have appropriate environmental crisis management procedures at both national and transnational levels;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 f (new) 3f. Calls on the Commission, Europol and Eurojust to provide support and a more institutionalised structure for existing networks of practitioners such as the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE) and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE) with the participation of ELD Government Experts Group and all stakeholders; calls in particular for a strengthened action of the Europol Environmental Crime Network (EnviCrimeNet) and to reinforce investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 3 g (new) 3g. Calls on Member States to set up or reinforce specialised units within their national police services at the appropriate levels for the investigation of environmental offences and to provide them with sufficient human, financial and technical resources, with a view to reinforcing their inspection and enforcement capacity in combating environmental crime; calls on the Member States to increase the level of expertise of prosecutors and judges in environmental crimes and its effects, with a view to more efficiently prosecuting environmental crime;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion Recital A f (new) Af. whereas the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change emphasises the importance of considering the rights of vulnerable people; whereas the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights recently published Framework principles on Human Rights and the Environment which clarify the human rights obligations of States relating to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and ensuring protection against discrimination in relation to the enjoyment of such environments;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. C
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) to be reviewed to ensure that it covers all applicable environmental legislation, including crimes involving wildlife, pollution, fishing and forests as well as the various sanctions to combat serious and organised crime at international, European and national level;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) to be reviewed to ensure that it covers all
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) to be reviewed to ensure that it covers all applicable environmental legislation;; in this context stresses that number of legal texts of relevance were adopted after 2008, covering issues such as introduction of invasive alien species or legality of trade in timber;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) to be reviewed to ensure that it covers all applicable environmental legislation, in accordance with the Commission’s conclusions on the Environmental Implementation Review (EIR);
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) to be reviewed to ensure that it covers all applicable environmental legislation and for the introduction of fines that are commensurate with the nature and the medium and long-term effects of the pollution;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) to be
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 4. Calls for the s
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Calls for further clarification and guidance on the interpretation of some legal terms of the ECD, such as “substantial damage”, “non-negligible quantity”, “negligible quantity” and “negligible impact”, “dangerous activity” and “significant deterioration” to ensure consistent application in individual Member States and facilitate cross-border cooperation;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Notes that the Renewable Energy Directive aimed to minimise unsustainable production when promoting energy use of forest biomass and that energy dedicated harvests were not foreseen by the legislator; highlights that such use of forest biomass goes against the cascading use principle, the waste hierarchy, and against the climate objectives; notes that the Green Deal proposes to minimise the use of whole trees for energy purposes; Calls on the Commission to explore under which circumstances the use of whole trees for energy purposes could constitute criminal offence;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion Recital A g (new) Ag. whereas the Environmental Liability Direct (ELD) established ‘a framework of environmental liability based on the “polluter-pays” principle to remedy environmental damage and a duty to prevent damage to species and habitats protected by the Birds and Habitats Directives and damage to surface water under the Water Framework Directive;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 4 a (new) 4a. Urges the Commission to present a revised accelerated legislative calendar for the revision of the ELD, the ECD and for the potential adoption on the basis of Article 83(2) TFEU of an overall framework, directive or regulation on environmental offences defining which behaviours to be punished, the nature of infringements, the types of offences, the reparation regimes, the restoration measures and the sanctions, including overall liability of legal persons;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to enforce that the criminal sanctions established under the ECD are dissuasive, while emphasising that to ensure this, low detection and enforcement rates will dictate higher sanctions; calls
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to enforce that the criminal sanctions established under the ECD are dissuasive,
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to enforce that the criminal sanctions established under the ECD are dissuasive and to establish a minimum penalty framework that properly guarantees the same dissuasive effect throughout the Union, while emphasising that to ensure this, low detection and enforcement rates will dictate higher sanctions; calls on the Commission to issue guidance in that respect;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to enforce that the criminal sanctions established under the ECD are dissuasive, while emphasising that to ensure this, low detection and enforcement rates will dictate higher sanctions; calls on the Commission to issue guidance in that respect;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to enforce that the criminal sanctions established under the ECD are dissuasive and proportionate, while emphasising that to ensure this, low detection and enforcement rates will dictate higher sanctions; calls on the Commission to issue guidance in that respect;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to enforce that the criminal sanctions established under the ECD are
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion Recital A h (new) Ah. whereas a harmonised EU environmental liability framework should encourage cooperation, cohesion and a level-playing field; whereas the ELD coexists with other liability instruments and provisions, both at EU and Member State level;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Stresses that environmental legislation is the most breached legislation in the EU; notes that while this indicates failure of Member States to comply with the EU acquis, it is often actions of private and legal persons which have caused the breach; stresses that there should be some correlation between infringements of environmental legislation and application of effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions and penalties under the Environmental Liability Directive and Environmental Crime Directive; calls on the Commission to improve the cooperation between the respective Directorates-General to ensure the coherence where applicable and issue guidance and recommendations to Member States for effective implementation;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 a (new) 5a. Calls on the Commission to develop a harmonised classification of environmental crimes, ecological harm together with a prescribed classification of appropriate sanctions in order to provide guidance to competent national authorities and prosecutors regarding the enforcement of sanctions established under the ECD;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 5 b (new) 5b. Highlights that incoherence between cases of reasoned opinions and referrals to the Court of Justice in the policy area of environment and low cases of environmental damage in accordance with Environmental Liability Directive and offences in line with the Environmental Crime Directive should be properly assessed to rule out inadequate implementation of these Directives;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 Amendment 86 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls on the Commission to enforce the application of sanctions established under the ECD; urges the Commission and the Member States to ensure that all complaints related to infringements of ECD provisions be treated more quickly and efficiently; considers in this regard that national authorities and bodies responsible for dealing with complaints, investigation and prosecution should be given extended financial means; further considers that judges and practitioners should be provided with specific trainings on the specificities of environmental crimes at EU and national level, and that practitioner networks willing to provide training to their members should be encouraged;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 6. Calls on the
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Calls for more active role of the Commission in the implementation of the Environmental Crime Directive; notes with regret that in the reply1a to the priority written question related to the repeated instances of significant water pollution by an economic operator the Commission did not consider at all the Environmental Crime Directive as applicable and only referred to the Environmental Liability Directive; __________________ 1a reply provided by the Commissioner Wojciechowski https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/P-9-2020-003847-ASW_EN.html
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Is of the opinion that an EU environment ombudsman should be established and empowered to start pre- litigation conciliation procedures, to request independent investigations and initiate legal proceedings in relation to environmental matters;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion Recital A i (new) Ai. whereas incidents that give rise to ELD liability may also trigger criminal, civil or administrative proceeding in parallel;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 a (new) 6a. Recognises the substantial increase in environmental investments by European companies and calls for exchanges of good practices over and above what is laid down in the regulations;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 b (new) 6b. Notes that the ECD merely states on the issue of liability of legal persons that Member States shall ensure that legal persons can be held liable for environmental crimes and that this liability shall not exclude criminal proceedings against natural persons who are perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the offences; Notes that the correct implementation thus does not require a criminal proceeding against an act established as criminal offence; Calls for this to be amended to ensure that legal persons, or natural persons who are perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the offences be held liable and be heard in a criminal proceeding;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 b (new) 6b. Is of the opinion that there is a serious risk that without supplementary regulation concerning environmental reporting, that corporations may misrepresent their environmental performance leading to information asymmetry between the corporation and the consumer; considers that where monitoring and reporting implementation is not sufficient; fine and penalties for non-compliance should be envisaged;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 c (new) 6c. Stresses the importance of independent auditors to ensure that businesses behave in an environmentally sustainable way; calls on the Commission and the Member States to encourage European companies to regularly conduct independent environmental audits; suggests that Recommendation 2001/331 which provides in detail how environmental inspections should be conducted should be transposed into a binding document or regulation;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 c (new) 6c. Recalls that there are cases of public institutions or state enterprises responsible for action infringing the environmental legislation1a which could constitute criminal offence; Calls on the Member States to effectively apply the provision on criminal prosecution of the respective private persons acting in the name of a legal entity; __________________ 1aa case of the director of the state forest enterprise, recommending logging to the forest managers in the sites in question after infringement case had opened against Slovakia
Amendment 95 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 6 d (new) 6d. Believes, in relation to confiscation and freezing measures, that a provision cross-referencing the Confiscation Directive could be included in order to reinforce the importance of confiscation and freezing measures within the context of environmental crime; calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of extending the mandate of the EPPO in the future to cover the criminal offences established by the ECD;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Considers that Member States should provide for sanctions to infringements and take all necessary measures to ensure that those sanctions are enforced; stresses that sanctions should take into account the severity, extent and repeated nature of infringements and be effective, proportionate and dissuasive; underlines the crucial importance of civil liability mechanisms to provide access to justice for environmental damage before the courts; stresses that barriers to access to remedies should be lifted, including a reversal of the burden of proof and financial support regarding legal costs; Calls on the Commission to facilitate, and on Member States to use, administrative fines as a complementary tool alongside criminal sanctions;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls on the Commission to facilitate, and on Member States to use, administrative
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7.
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion Paragraph 7 7. Calls on the Commission to facilitate
source: 661.797
2020/12/18
JURI
171 amendments...
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 1 a (new) - having regard to Article 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 10 h (new) Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 e (new) 11 e. Calls for the introduction of punitive damages for environmental liability under the ELD;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 f (new) 11 f. Notes that the significance threshold required according to the definition of environmental damage under Article 3 ELD has proved problematic in Member States’ practice to ensure a high level of protection of the environment; calls therefore for the repeal of this threshold, or for detailed clarification by EU law in order to remove barriers to the protection of the environment;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 g (new) 11 g. Stresses that pure environmental damage should entail administrative, civil and criminal liability of responsible companies; also stresses that those forms of liability coexist with other liability regimes in business law, such as consumer law or competition law, which can also be triggered by some companies’ conducts resulting in environmental damage;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 h (new) 11 h. Stresses that environmental legislation is EU legislation where there is the highest implementation deficit by the Member States; notes that while this indicates failure of Member States to comply with the EU acquis, it is often actions of private and legal persons which have caused the breach; stresses that there should be some correlation between infringements of environmental legislation and application of effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions and penalties under the Environmental Liability Directive and Environmental Crime Directive; calls on the Commission to improve the cooperation between the respective Directorates-General to ensure the coherence where applicable and issue guidance and recommendations to Member States for effective implementation;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 i (new) 11 i. Stresses that the EU environmental liability regime shall respect policy coherence for development (PCD) and the do-no-harm principle;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 j (new) 11 j. Calls on the Commission to take action, including legal action where applicable, to ensure that the lengthy procedures in Member States deciding on liability for environmental burdens do not jeopardise the objective of high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment as enshrined in EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 k (new) 11 k. Underlines that all the acts causing or likely to cause substantial damage to the quality of air, the quality of soil or the quality of water, or to animals or plants must be covered by art 3(a) ECD; thus calls on the Commission and the Member States to remove the regulatory and administrative barriers for the implementation of environmental penal law and the ECD;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 l (new) 11 l. Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of a legislative proposal for the crime of ecocide;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 m (new) Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 n (new) 11 n. Encourages the Commission to develop a harmonised classification of environmental crimes and ecological harm together with a prescribed classification of appropriate sanctions in order to provide guidance to competent national authorities and prosecutors regarding the enforcement of sanctions established under the ECD;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution Recital -A (new) -A. (new) whereas, according to Article 191(1) of the TFEU. Union policy on the environment must contribute to the pursuit of objectives, such as protecting the health of its citizens, protecting and improving the quality of the environment, promoting the prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources, and promoting measures at international level to address global or regional environmental problems;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 o (new) 11 o. Calls on the Commission to enforce the application of sanctions established under the ECD; urges the Commission and the Member States to ensure that all complaints related to infringements of ECD provisions be treated more quickly and efficiently; calls for reliable and public data to be made available concerning those complaints brought under ECD; considers in this regard that national authorities and bodies responsible for dealing with complaints, investigation and prosecution should be given extended financial means; further considers that national judges and practitioners should be provided with specific trainings on environmental crimes at EU and national level, and that practitioner networks willing to provide training to their members should be encouraged;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 p (new) 11 p. Recalls that there are cases of public institutions or state enterprises responsible for action infringing the environmental legislation which could constitute criminal offence; Calls on the Member States to effectively apply the provision on criminal prosecution of the respective private persons acting in the name of a legal entity;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 q (new) 11 q. Believes, in relation to confiscation and freezing measures, that a provision cross-referencing the Confiscation Directive could be included in order to reinforce the importance of confiscation and freezing measures within the context of environmental crime;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 r (new) 11 r. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of extending the mandate of the EPPO in the future to cover the criminal offences established by the ECD;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12.
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 12. Calls on the Commission to
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12 a. believes that Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) and Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) could play a complementary role to environmental liability, as duly compliance with CSR and CER can reduce the likelihood of environmental harm; considers important in this sense that these commitments should be connected to mandatory obligations towards sustainable value creation, including the enforcing of non-financial reporting obligations;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 a (new) 12 a. Is of the opinion that the criminal sanctions should be extended to legal persons responsible for infringements committed by the offenders, e.g. to mother companies using the infringing company as a shield, to “partners in crime”, and to mother, daughter or sister companies indirectly taking profit from the infringement;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 12 b (new) 12 b. considers that a new legislation is urgently needed in order to establish clear, robust and enforceable cross- sectoral requirements on business enterprises to respect human rights, good governance and the environment and to carry out due diligence; stresses that such legislation should follow a cross- commodity approach, apply to all economic sectors in the supply chain, including the financial sector, both upstream and downstream, be accompanied by a robust reporting, disclosure and enforcement mechanism, including effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for non-compliance;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution Recital -A a (new) -A a. whereas Article 37of the Charter of Fundamental Rights requires that a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment be integrated into the policies of the Union and ensured in accordance with the principle of sustainable development;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13.
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 13 13. Is of the opinion that
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Calls on the Commission to align the ELD with civil liability legislation for corporate boards in cases where a c
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 14. Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of aligning the ELD with civil liability legislation for corporate boards
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 14 a (new) 14 a. (new) Highlights that the cost of environmental damage for the operators responsible can be reduced through the use of financial security instruments; notes, however that the ELD does not provide for mandatory financial security system;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Asks the Commission to look into
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15.
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A A. whereas the EU’s coordinated environmental strategy encourages cooperation and ensures that EU policies are consistent with each other; whereas the European Green Deal sets the ambition of zero-pollution, to be delivered through a cross cutting strategy to protect citizens’ health from environmental degradation and pollution while at the same time calls for a just transition that leaves nobody behind;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Asks the Commission to
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 15. Asks the Commission to
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 a (new) 15 a. Calls on the Commission to establish a compulsory full coverage environmental liability insurance policy to cover all operators in the EU as a prerequisite for environmental permissions to solve the existing financial security problem of the companies, and to obligate each Member State to take all measures necessary to ensure environmental liability of all operators in its territory;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 15 b (new) 15 b. Calls on the Commission to include in its legislative proposal revising the ELD regime a fund for ELD liabilities at EU or national level; also calls on the Commission to study the possibility of using this fund as a basis for a renewed regime for socio-environmental protection;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Considers that, given the purpose of the ELD is to prevent and remedy environmental damage, a future regulation (Environmental Liability Regulation) should be applicable to all companies
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 16. Considers that, given the purpose of the ELD is to prevent and remedy environmental damage,
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 a (new) 16 a. Recalls that the Union should not merely promote a high level of environmental protection on its own territory, but should also take all possible action to prevent environmental damage anywhere in the world caused by companies based in Member States; recalls that environmental damage is particularly frequent and serious in developing countries due to factors such as less stringent legislative frameworks for environmental protection or the industrial and extractive activity of multinational corporations in those countries; Also calls on the Commission to study, in light of the transboundary harm principle, the possible legal avenues to ensure that EU transnational corporations be held liable for their environmentally harmful activities conducted in third States, even when those activities are not linked to products or services marketed in the EU territory; calls on the EU and its Member States, in any event, to provide for access to justice by allowing victims to take the parent company to Court in the EU, notably in a context where many host state legal systems are inadequate; Calls for the extension of criminal and civil liability for companies that have a clear link to an EU Member State and that have caused or contributed or are linked to environmental harm in third countries wherever they failed to act with due diligence and took all reasonable measures to prevent the damage;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 a (new) 16 a. Reiterates that according to the ELD, persons adversely affected by environmental damage should be entitled to ask the competent authorities to take action; believes in this regard that a compensatory collective redress mechanism should be available to any individual or organisation that has suffered due to environmental damage or impairment of right within the scope of the ELD;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 b (new) 16 b. Welcomes the Commission legislative proposal amending the Aarhus Regulation1367/2006 (COM(2020) 642 final) to allow for better public scrutiny of EU acts affecting the environment; taking into account that the European law stipulates that European citizens should be guaranteed effective and timely access to justice(Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Regulation, Article 6 TEU and relevant provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights) and that the costs of the environmental harm should be borne by the polluter (Article 191TFEU), calls on the Council in its capacity as a co-legislator for the effective implementation of the third pillar of the Aarhus Convention to guarantee access to courts for natural persons and NGOs for representative action to directly file a lawsuit against an operator potentially liable for environmental harm;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 b (new) 16 b. Believes that, in case of transnational and global damages, applicants and victims should have the choice to base their claims either on the law of the State where the harm occurred or the law of the country where the event giving rise to the damage occurred; in addition to both options, applicants and victims should have the choice to apply the law of the country where the lawsuit has been brought (lex fori); finally stresses that in case of diffuse and cumulative damages, these options should also be accessible to the plaintiffs; therefore calls on the Commission to assess the possibility of a revision of the Rome II Regulation accordingly;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A A. whereas the EU’s coordinated environmental strategy must encourage
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 c (new) 16 c. Calls on the Commission to consider the elaboration of a Corporate Environmental Liability Directive able to address the peculiarities of environmental liability of large companies under private law; this corporate environmental liability directive would address large dangerous activities as addressed by the EIA Directive, large marketing of dangerous products, as well as large commanders of value chains; it could establish a strict liability regime for any damages to environment and human health, recognise presumption rules on causality and joint and several or pro rata liability, and address parental and chain responsibility; with inspiration from the German Environmental Liability Law for dangerous installations;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 16 d (new) 16 d. Calls on the Commission to incorporate the principles and objectives underpinning EU environmental policy and human rights safeguards into the environmental chapters of all EU trade agreements; in that regard calls the commission to ensure that environmental provisions are enforceable and subject to a general dispute settlement mechanism;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17.
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Is of the opinion that in cases of extremely widespread pollution, not just environmental liability instruments, but a multitude of instruments, including administrative measures, financial penalties and in some cases criminal prosecution, should be applied to remedy the problem; notes that criminal penalties alone are often ineffective as they may lead to large dismissals of environmental cases especially in Member States where there is no criminal liability of the corporate entity; also notes that in many Member States administrative financial penalties are increasingly used; calls therefore on the Commission to facilitate, and on Member States to use, administrative fines as a complementary tool alongside criminal sanctions;
Amendment 144 #
17. Is of the opinion that in cases of serious damage to the environment, including extremely widespread pollution, not just environmental liability instruments, but a multitude of instruments, including administrative measures, financial penalties and in some cases criminal prosecution, should be applied to remedy the problem; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to ensure that corporate social responsibility in preventing and remedying environmental harm is taken into account in procurement contracts and the allocation of public funds;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. I
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Is of the opinion that in cases of
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Is of the opinion that in cases of extremely widespread pollution, not just environmental liability instruments, but a multitude of instruments, including administrative measures
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 17. Is of the opinion that in predefined cases of extremely widespread pollution, not just environmental liability instruments, but a
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 a (new) 17 a. Considers in particular that in cases of serious diffuse pollution and of large-scale incidents, the strict liability of the responsible company should be established and result in sanctions which may include temporary or definitive closure of the responsible company or its premises, and may entail the directors’ and board members’ personal liability;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A a (new) A a. Whereas ensuring the liability for environmental damage is key to making European businesses more sustainable over the long term; whereas such an achievement is closely interlinked through the development of related legislation on corporate due diligence, corporate social accountability and sustainable corporate governance;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 a (new) 17 a. Calls for the scope of the ECD to be reviewed to ensure that it covers all relevant environmental legislation taking into account new types and patterns of environmental crime, including illegal logging and timber trade, illegal fishing, human-made fires and carbon credit fraud and all activities that contribute to cover-up environmental crimes;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 a (new) 17 a. (new) Calls on the Commission to assess the possibility of introducing instruments aimed at increasing access to justice for victims and NGOs, such as rapid claim mechanisms;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 b (new) 17 b. Calls for minimum rules under the ECD with regard to the definition of sanctions and on the Commission to issue guidance on what constitutes effective, dissuasive and proportionate sanctions and a uniform application of sanctions in the EU and minimum standards for national authorities on the frequency and quality of checks on operators; the ECD should include requirements for Member States on data collection, publication and reporting, while using synergies with existing reporting obligations for Member States under the EU sectoral legislation listed in the annexes to the Directive;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 b (new) 17 b. Deplores the lack of effective implementation and enforcement of EU acts that aim to establish the criminal liability of legal persons for environmental offences and remediate environmental damages resulting therefrom; Recalls that there are cases of public institutions or state enterprises responsible for action infringing the environmental legislation which could constitute criminal offence; Calls on the Member States to effectively apply the provision on criminal prosecution of the respective private persons acting in the name of a legal entity;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 c (new) 17 c. Notes that the ECD merely states on the issue of liability of legal persons that Member States shall ensure that legal persons can be held liable for environmental crimes and that this liability shall not exclude criminal proceedings against natural persons who are perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the offences; Notes that the correct implementation thus does not require a criminal proceeding against an act established as criminal offence; Calls for the ECD to be amended to ensure that legal persons, or natural persons who are perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the offences be held liable and be heard in a criminal proceeding;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 c (new) 17 c. Calls for further clarification and guidance on the interpretation of some legal terms of the ECD, such as “substantial damage”, “non-negligible quantity”, “negligible quantity” and “negligible impact”, “dangerous activity” and “significant deterioration” to ensure consistent application in individual Member States and facilitate cross-border cooperation;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 d (new) 17 d. Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of a legislative proposal for the crime of ecocide and calls on the EU and Member States to work in order to extend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to the ecocide as well; this extension would make it possible to recognize that large- scale environmental crimes are comparable to voluntary violations of human rights or to outright warlike actions;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 d (new) 17 d. Recognises the direct and indirect interrelationship between environmental offences and transnational organised crime and corruption; calls on Europol to update the study commissioned in 2015 and to regularly provide situational updates;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 e (new) 17 e. Calls on the Commission and Member States to raise awareness, promote and actively engage in international fora in order to more effectively combat environmental crimes, including through the protection of human environmental rights defenders and the recognition of ecocide in international law;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 e (new) 17 e. calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of establishing a European Environmental Criminal Court with powers similar to those of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which enforces the 'polluter pays' principle, including compensation for victims;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A a (new) A a. (new) whereas responsible business conduct implies that companies take due consideration of environmental concerns;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 17 f (new) 17 f. Urges the Union and its Member States to make the fight against environmental crime a strategic political priority in international judicial cooperation and for institutions and Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, notably by promoting compliance with multilateral environmental agreements through the adoption of criminal sanctions, exchange of best practices and by promoting the enlargement of the scope of the International Criminal Court to cover criminal acts that would amount to ecocide;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Calls on the Commission to come forward with a proposal for en
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 18. Calls on the Commission to come forward with a proposal for environmental inspections at the EU level without further delay, as proposed by the Environmental Compliance and Governance Forum in action nine of its work programme, but is of the opinion that a recommendation to establish minimum criteria for environmental inspections is not enough; therefore considers that this recommendation should be changed into a binding document;
Amendment 163 #
18 a. Considers that an EU ombudsman for the environment should be established, entitled to start pre-litigation conciliation procedures, to request independent investigations and initiate legal actions with regard to environmental damages and offences; further stresses that the EU ombudsman should work in close collaboration the future EU-based environmental agency with regard to the deployment of monitoring, inspection and enforcement powers in environmental matters;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 a (new) 18a. Calls on the Commission to initiate a discussion on introducing a financial compensation scheme for cases where available remedies are inadequate given the extent of the damage; stresses that this discussion should address, inter alia, possible ways of quantifying environmental damage;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 b (new) 18b. Calls on the Commission to amend the legislation on the control of major- accident hazards involving dangerous substances (Directive 2012/18/EU) with the aim of ensuring that the obligation on operators to provide the competent authority with information sufficient to identify the dangerous substances present or likely to be present in their establishment, including their quantity, should also be transferred to operators who run or manage operations where hazardous substances are or may be present in quantities below the values indicated in Annex I to the Directive; notes that this would make it easier to identify those committing potential environmental violations;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 b (new) 18 b. Calls on the Commission, Europol and Eurojust to provide support and a more institutionalised structure for existing networks of practitioners such as the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE) and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE) with the participation of ELD Government Experts Group and all stakeholders; calls in particular for a strengthened action of the Europol Environmental Crime Network (EnviCrimeNet) and to reinforce investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 c (new) 18 c. Calls on the Commission to address environmental crimes in the relevant EU legislation including in the forthcoming mandatory due diligence legislation into global supply chains;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 d (new) 18 d. Believes that there is a strong need for a mandatory, harmonised liability framework to be updated at Union level to contribute to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate objectives, ensuring a level playing field for all business; In that regard believes that companies should conduct mandatory environment impact assessments that have full respect for human rights, environmental obligations and the protection of biodiversity throughout their supply chains and in full respect of existing international standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Multinational Enterprise and Social Policy, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, the UN Global Compact and the UN Convention against corruption;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 e (new) 18 e. Stresses the importance of independent auditors to ensure that businesses behave in an environmentally sustainable way; calls on the Commission and the Member States to encourage European companies to regularly conduct independent environmental audits; suggests that Recommendation 2001/331 which provides in detail how environmental inspections should be conducted should be transposed into a binding document or regulation;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution Recital A b (new) Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 f (new) 18 f. Considers that companies convicted for environmental crimes should not been allowed to benefit from any of the measures foreseen for registrants into the transparency register; suggests, to this end, to revise the scope and the code of conduct of the transparency register in order to include provisions on the removal of companies convicted for environmental crimes;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 18 g (new) 18 g. Stresses that ensuring the environmental liability of companies is key in making corporate governance more sustainable; considers in this regard that the upcoming EU legislation on company directors’ duties should compel companies into defining a business sustainability strategy that is aligned with planetary boundaries, in particular by requiring decarbonisation by 2050 and by preventing corporate contribution to biodiversity loss; also calls for a liability for direct and indirect environmental damages;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B B. whereas the ELD coexists with other liability instruments and provisions, both at EU and Member State level; whereas incidents that give rise to ELD liabilities may trigger criminal, civil or administrative proceedings in parallel; whereas the ELD itself leaves room for a broad harmonised scope of liable persons which ultimately contradicts the full application of a strict liability regime according to the Polluter Pays Principle under Article 191 TFEU;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B B. whereas the ELD coexists with other liability instruments and provisions, both at EU and Member State level; whereas incidents that give rise to ELD liabilities may trigger criminal, civil or administrative proceedings in parallel, creating legal uncertainty and insecurity both for the companies concerned and for potential victims;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 1 b (new) - having regard to the project of Global Pact for the Environment currently discussed at UN level,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) Ba. whereas the Commission's 2016 environmental responsibility report indicates that, notwithstanding the benefits of ELD in efforts to improve legal coherence at EU level, we are still faced with regulatory fragmentation in this area and a lack of uniformity in legal and practical terms; 1a
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. (new)whereas the current definitions of ´´environmental damage´´ and ´´operator´´ applied under the ELD were subject to different analysis which highlighted difficulties in their interpretation; whereas the concept of the ´´significance of the threshold´´ is vague and difficult to implement;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B a (new) B a. Whereas ex-post liability rules complement ex-ante safety regulation and market-based instrument (such as environmental taxation) aiming at the reduction of environmental harm in order to fulfil the objectives of prevention and compensation;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B b (new) B b. Whereas the current regime for environmental liability, by not encompassing diffuse pollution by companies whose activities result in the production, use or release of hazardous chemicals, nanoplastics, pesticides, CO2 and other greenhouse gases emissions, is not adequate to fully ensure a high level of protection of the environment;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution Recital B c (new) B c. Whereas there is an increasing number of cases where victims of pollution caused by subsidiaries of European companies try to bring environmental liability lawsuits against parent companies before courts in the EU;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution Recital C C. whereas the ELD established ‘a framework of environmental liability based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, to prevent and remedy environmental damage; whereas the ELD complements main pieces of EU environmental legislation, to which it is directly or indirectly linked, in particular the Habitat Directive9 , the Birds Directive10 , the Water Framework Directive11 , the Marine Strategy Framework Directive12 and the Offshore Safety Directive13
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution Recital C C. whereas the ELD, which established a framework of environmental liability based on the Polluter-Pays principle to prevent and remediate environmental damage, complements main pieces of EU environmental legislation, to which it is directly or indirectly linked, in particular the Habitat Directive9 , the Birds Directive10 , the Water Framework Directive11 , the Marine Strategy Framework Directive12 and the Offshore Safety Directive13
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution Recital D D. whereas the Commission’s 2016 report on environmental liability advised all Member States to undertake to ‘record data on ELD incidents and publish ELD registers if they have not done so already’14; whereas, despite this, only seven Member States have a register for ELD cases that is publicly available, while four other Member States have a register that is not public; whereas several Member States collect information covered by other pieces of EU legislation, but not specifically by the ELD, or have registers with a broader or different scope, and whereas several Member States collect data at regional level; whereas 14 Member States have no database of environmental incidents or ELD cases;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution Recital E E. whereas it appears that the majority of Member States do not provide for mandatory financial security instruments in their legislation, but several countries do require them15
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution Recital F F. whereas although sufficient insurance cover is available in most markets, including for complementary and compensatory remediation, demand is generally low due to a lack of reported incidents, sub-optimal enforcement and slower developments in emerging markets16
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 10 a (new) - having regard to the note of the Finnish presidency of the Council on the ‘Eighth round of mutual evaluations on environmental crime’ (November 2019)1a, _________________ 1a https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/docu ment/ST-14065-2019-INIT/en/pdf
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G G. whereas operator insolvency as a consequence of major accidents remains a problem in the EU; whereas shareholders may indeed use the corporate veil in order to abuse their limited liability to invest in hazardous industries through separate legal entities in order to externalise environmental costs; whereas it is unacceptable that public authorities and victims often have to bear significant financial costs derived from companies’ environmental misconducts;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G G. whereas operator insolvency as a consequence of major accidents remains a problem in the EU; whereas the Commission should analyse existing national and regulatory frameworks and adopt a harmonised EU approach with a view to shielding taxpayers from the consequences of a company's insolvency;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G G. whereas operator insolvency as a consequence of major accidents remains a problem in the EU, thereby resulting in the disregard for the “’polluter pays’ principle;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution Recital G a (new) G a. (new) whereas the availability of financial security instruments has significantly increased since the adaption of the ELD;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H H.
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H H. whereas in some cases, corporate board members are aware of activities with a high risk of
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H H. whereas in some cases, although corporate board members are aware of activities with a high risk of causing environmental damage,
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H a (new) Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 10 b (new) - having regard to the study of the European Environmental Bureau on ‘Crime and Punishment’ (March 2020)2a, _________________ 2ahttps://eeb.org/library/crime-and- punishment/
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H a (new) Ha. whereas an ELD review should necessarily seek to strike a balance between corporate concerns and environmental protection;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H b (new) H b. Whereas there is urgent need for an international approach to environmental crime due to its global impact and transboundary nature, as is shown by the example of the international Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime bringing together five international organisations - the CITES secretariat, INTERPOL, UNODC, the World Bank and the World Customs Organisation (WCO); whereas a mandate for the Commission to actively engage in bilateral and multilateral fora with the aim of securing an ambitious global level playing field for combating environmental crime is necessary;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution Recital H c (new) Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 1 1. Welcomes the Commission’s efforts to assess and bridge gaps in the implementation of the ELD and the ECD across the Member States;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Observes that the discretionary powers set out in the ELD, the elements of flexibility and the weak mechanisms for securing compliance and effective governance at national, regional and local level have led to implementation deficiencies, considerable variability between Member States
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2. Observes that the
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 2.
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 2 a (new) 2 a. Considers that environmental liability and criminal regimes, within ELD and ECD and horizontally in EU law, should cover pure ecological damage; notes that the definitions of environmental damage set out in the ELD and ECD hamper the effective protection of the environment by artificially separating damage to protected species and natural habitats, water damage and land damage; calls for the definition of environmental damage to be amended in order to take a more holistic approach and include air pollution and greenhouse gases emissions; also calls for the establishment of an environmental and criminal liability and criminal regime for cumulative and diffuse pollution, consistently with the Polluter-Pays Principle;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 10 c (new) - having regard to the ‘Evaluation of the Environmental Crime Directive’ of the European Economic and Social Committee (December 2019)3a, _________________ 3ahttps://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our- work/opinions-information- reports/information-reports/evaluation- environmental-crime-directive
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that in many Member States, the budgets of environmental inspectorates have stagnated or decreased due to the financial crisis and that even large, well-resourced authorities can find it difficult to independently develop knowledge of the best ways to ensure compliance; is thus of the opinion that stronger support at EU level is needed and, therefore, calls on the Commission to support Member States in the development of tools for operators, competent authorities, civil society organisations and insurers, for
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4.
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 4. Regrets that in many Member States, the budgets of environmental inspectorates have stagnated or decreased due to the financial crisis and that even large, well-resourced authorities can find it difficult to independently develop knowledge of the best ways to ensure compliance; regrets that the reduction of inspections has also concerned the Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations Directive and might occur in other cases when environmental damages can be extensively dangerous9a, is thus of the opinion that stronger support at EU level is needed, for example through accessible information portals, commonly used networks (EU networks for practitioners), best practice information and guidance, additional training programmes, training materials and guidance on skills, as this could increase the pressure on ‘black sheep’ companies and benefit companies that respect the law; _________________ 9aEuropean Commission, Annual report on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in the European Union for the year 2018, COM 2020(263), 25 June 2020.
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Regrets that environmental crime is one of the most prevalent criminal activities in the world, benefiting from low detection probability, low prosecution rates and low penalties for environmental damages; calls on the Member States to increase the level of expertise of prosecutors and judges in environmental crimes and its effects, with a view to more efficiently prosecuting environmental crime; calls on Member States to set up or reinforce specialised units within their national police services at the appropriate levels for the investigation of environmental offences and to provide them with sufficient human, financial and technical resources, with a view to reinforcing their inspection and enforcement capacity in combating environmental crime;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 4 b (new) Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5.
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Takes the view that one of the various causes of the insufficient harmonisation of the ELD is the failure to provide for the application of a standard administrative procedure for notifying
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 5 5. Takes the view that one of the various causes of the insufficient harmonisation of the ELD is the failure to provide for the application of a standard administrative procedure for notifying competent authorities of imminent threats of or actual environmental damage; regrets therefore that there is no obligation to publish such notifications or information about how cases are dealt with; notes that some Member States have identified this limitation in their national legislation and have consequently set up databases for notifications, incidents and cases; points out, however, that the practice varies greatly from Member State to Member
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6.
Amendment 6 #
- having regard to the Briefing note of the EPRS on the ‘Update environmental liability of companies. Some thoughts on selected possible amendments of the ELD’‘ (October 2020)4a, _________________ 4a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/ etudes/IDAN/2020/659924/IPOL_IDA(20 20)659924_EN.pdf
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Points out that reliable data on environmental incidents giving rise to the application of the ELD or other
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 6 6. Points out that reliable data
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 7. Underlines that in
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 7 a (new) 7a. Notes that the number of companies prosecuted in environmental cases is low across the Member States, even though criminal offences within the meaning of the Environmental Crime Directive are demonstrably taking place; points out, in this context, that the causes of this situation have not yet been comprehensively analysed or explained by the Commission or the Member States;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the ELD to be revised as soon as possible and to be transformed into a fully harmonised regulation in order to achieve a level playing field for EU industry, prevent and remedy environmental damage more effectively and strike a better balance between corporate concerns and environmental protection; calls on the Commission to identify the right approach to the problem of company insolvency in the EU as a consequence of major accidents, thereby relieving taxpayers of the environmental costs in such an event;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8.
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the ELD to be revised as soon as possible and to be transformed into a fully harmonised regulation
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Calls for the ELD to be revised as soon as possible and
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 10 e (new) - having regard to the staff working document of the European Commission on the evaluation of the Environmental Crime Directive (October 2020)5a, _________________ 5ahttps://eur- lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:4 33ac4c4-1938-11eb-b57e- 01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format= PDF
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 8 8. Calls for
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 9. Is of the opinion that enforcement should be harmonised and that an EU ELD task force made up of highly qualified experts and Commission officials should be created to support the Member States, upon request, with the implementation and enforcement of the directive on the one hand, and to support and advise victims of environmental damage on the available
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Stresses the need to improve access to justice for victims of environmental harm, including through collective actions, representative actions and redress mechanisms; stresses that barriers to access to remedies should be lifted, including insufficient court powers to order effective redress; recognizes the importance of the reversal of the burden of proof as a necessary precondition for effective remedies in case of diffuse environmental damage; emphasises the key role of environmental NGOs in raising awareness and taking legal actions to ensure the respect of environmental laws; accordingly, stresses the need to improve access to justice for NGOs, notably in case of widespread pollution, including by removing litigation barriers to initiate legal actions, in particular related to legal standing and costs of litigation; further considers that, in order to generally improve access to justice, regulations prohibiting lawyers to charge result-based fees should be abrogated, victims of environmental corporate abuse should be given priority in bankruptcy proceedings, and third party funding of litigation should be allowed;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9a. Acknowledges the intrinsic value of ecosystems and their right to protection and calls for the introduction of mechanisms to allow environmental organisations initiate legal proceedings on their behalf; calls for reporting and monitoring of the full restoration of ecosystems; stresses also the need for legal recognition of the shared world heritage;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. (new) Believes that the revised framework should provide for increased best practice sharing among Member States;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 b (new) 9 b. Stresses that the objective of reaching effective accountability for environmental damage can be significantly undermined when public participation is threatened by companies’ recourse to Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and other abusive legal claims; calls on the Commission to introduce additional preventive measures, procedural safeguards and exemplary sanctions against companies bringing abusive lawsuits aimed at deterring public participation and intimidating victims in the context of environmental damage;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 c (new) 9 c. Considers that the environmental liability framework should provide effective mediation and remedies to victims of environmental damage and associated human rights violations, including operational-level grievance mechanisms; believes that special protections should be provided to indigenous peoples, environmental whistle-blowers, and human rights defenders; also stresses that protection should in any event be granted to individuals obliged to leave their habitual home due, in whole or in part, to sudden or progressive business-induced environmental damages that adversely affect their life or living conditions;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 d (new) 9 d. Strongly condemns any form of violence, harassment and intimidation - including defamation processes and other strategic lawsuits against public participation - perpetrated against environmentalists and human rights defenders, whether directly - against those individuals themselves - or indirectly - against their family, friends or colleagues; calls on the Member States to ensure proper and effective investigation and prosecution of those acts, in order for those defenders to be able to act free from threat, restriction and insecurity; emphasises the crucial role of environmental human rights defenders for human rights and fundamental freedom to enjoy a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 e (new) 9 e. Considers that the framework should oblige companies to have an effective environmental reporting mechanism that should be transparent, accessible and trustworthy; Reiterates in this regard the need to strengthen standards in terms of mandatory disclosure of information by undertakings in the remit of the revision of Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on non-financial reporting, notably by including an enforcement and sanctioning mechanism to support the reporting requirements;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 10 f (new) - having regard to the joint report of the French Ministries of Justice and of the Ecological Transition on ‘Une justice pour l’environnement — Mission d’évaluation des relations entre justice et environnement’ (October 2019)6a, _________________ 6a http://www.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/rapport _justice_pour_environnement.pdf
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 f (new) 9 f. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up protection and support schemes for the victims of environmental damage and to ensure their full access to justice, information and compensation; emphasises the key role of environmental NGOs in raising awareness, representing the victims’ interests, and taking legal action; calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide them with the appropriate financial support;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 g (new) 9 g. Acknowledges the Rights of Nature, and stresses that public authorities should adopt a Rights of Nature approach to environmental protection wherein mechanisms, such as legal guardianship bodies, are established to represent the rights and interests of natural entities such as lakes, rivers, and other ecosystems; where Rights of Nature approaches are adopted, individuals, NGO and other affected stakeholders should be able to compel reparation and restoration from the harm suffered on behalf of natural entities harmed through environmental damage; further calling for the establishments of specific standards to enforce the Rights of Nature where recognized in practice;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 h (new) 9 h. Welcomes the Commission legislative proposal amending the Aarhus Regulation 1367/2006 (COM(2020) 642 final) to allow for better public scrutiny of EU acts affecting the environment; in this respect calls on the Council in its capacity as a co-legislator for the effective implementation of the third pillar of the Aarhus Convention to guarantee access to courts for natural persons and NGOs for representative action to directly file a lawsuit against an operator potentially liable for environmental damage, whatever its form;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 9 i (new) 9 i. Considers that the Commission proposal on the revision of the Aarhus Regulation should be amended, notably in order to broaden the scope of the internal review mechanism to acts requiring national implementing measures and state aid decisions of the European Commission, as well as to introduce cost regulation provisions protecting environmental organisations;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Believes that most definitions in the ELD should be further clarified to make the directive fair and clear to all stakeholders and to keep pace with the rapid evolution of pollutants; welcomes therefore the current efforts to develop a common understanding document (CUD) on key ELD definitions and concepts;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Believes that most definitions in the ELD should be further clarified and broaden, to make the directive fair and clear to all stakeholders, such as operators, competent authorities, civil society organisations and insurers and to keep pace with the rapid evolution of pollutants; welcomes therefore the current efforts to develop a common understanding document (CUD) on key ELD definitions and concepts; regrets, however, that the Commission and the ELD government expert groups did not reach an agreement on its format, meaning that the CUD remains a document produced by the consultancy which was hired by the Commission to support the implementation of the 2017-2020 Multi-
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10.
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 10. Believes that most definitions in the ELD
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Points out that the different interpretations and application of the “significance threshold” for environmental damage has been identified as a main reason for the uneven application of the ELD; calls, therefore, for a more consistent application and better clarification and guidance of the threshold of “significant damage” in the context of the ELD; calls for the clarification and harmonisation of the “significant” damage to biodiversity threshold and the criteria for its definition, and the alignment of the environmental liability regime to the Habitats Directive Article 6(2);
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 a (new) 10 a. Calls on the Commission to include 'ecosystems' and ‘recreational uses and amenities of the environment' in the definitions of 'environmental damage’ and 'natural resource' of Article 2;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution Citation 10 g (new) - having regard to the conclusions and recommendations of the European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime (EFFACE) (March 2016)7a, _________________ 7a https://efface.eu/sites/default/files/publicat ions/EFFACE_Conclusions_recommenda tions.pdf
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 b (new) 10 b. Further considers that diffuse form of pollution should also be effectively incorporated in a comprehensive revision of the liability framework; stresses in particular that companies and their subsidiaries whose activities notably result in the production, use or release of hazardous chemicals, nano-plastics, pesticides, CO2 and other greenhouse gases emissions, should also be held liable; further stresses that causality requirements should not constitute a hurdle to recognise liability in case of diffuse or cumulative damage, such as climate change or biodiversity loss; consequently calls on the Commission to make sure that the scope of its future proposal of Environmental Liability Regulation and ECD also covers diffuse forms of pollution or to propose a rapidly needed new legislation to establish a liability regime for diffuse pollution, consistently with the Polluter-Pays principle;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 10 c (new) 10 c. Regrets that activities with potential negative impacts on biodiversity and the environment such as the pipeline transport of hazardous substances and the introduction of invasive alien species are currently not covered by the requirement for strict liability; notes in particular for biodiversity damage, the activities listed in Annex III do not sufficiently cover the sectors that could potentially give rise to damage;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11.
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 11.
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Notes that the activities listed in Annex III do not sufficiently cover the sectors that could potentially give rise to environmental damage; points out that there are activities with potential negative impacts on biodiversity and the environment, such as the pipeline of transport of hazardous substances outside of industrial establishments covered by Annex III, mining, the introduction of invasive alien species and shale gas operations, that are currently not covered by the requirement for strict liability;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure strict producer liability;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 b (new) 11 b. Calls for any operator benefitting from the carrying out of activities to be also liable, under the ELD, for any environmental damage or pollution caused by those activities;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 c (new) 11 c. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) and the definitions of environmental damage to be expanded to cover all damage to the environment, all types of environmental damage and damage caused by any occupational activity;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution Paragraph 11 d (new) 11 d. Notes that in Article 1 ELD, the framework of environmental liabilityshould be broadened to include environmental rehabilitation and ecological restoration to the baseline condition after occupational activities have ended, even when environmental damage is caused by activities or emissions expressly authorised by the competent authorities;
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