Commission welcomes political agreement on protecting the environment through criminal law

The European Commission welcomes the provisional agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law. As proposed by the Commission in December 2021, the new directive will improve the effectiveness of criminal law enforcement and help achieve European Green Deal objectives by fighting against the most serious environmental offences which can have devastating effects on both the environment and human health.  

Once the new directive has entered into force, Member States will have to include in their criminal laws greater precision on the definition of environmental offence categories, as well as effective dissuasive sanctions for offenders. The new legal framework will help to ensure that serious environmental offences do not go unpunished. This will deter pollution and environmental degradation and contribute to preserving our nature for future generations.  

More information is in the press release.