(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 20 May, the revised EU Directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law entered into force. The purpose of the revision was to contribute to more efficient protection of the environment, as the previous EU directive was thought to not be dissuasive enough.
Directive 2008/99/EC was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council and in 2008. It outlined the general purpose of protecting the environment and decreasing the environmental crime levels in the EU.
In 2020, an evaluation carried out by the Commission noted that “there are major deficiencies in all member states and at all levels of the law enforcement chain preventing criminal environmental law from being effective”.
The new and revised Directive aims to establish a framework that is similar in all EU member states and is designed to increase the effectiveness of investigation and prosecution of environmental crime across the EU.
The scope of the Directive is now also much wider, with the number of criminal categories increasing from 9 to 18. Of relevance to the shipping community, the offenses include:
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Additionally, the directive calls on member states to criminalise the incitement, aiding or attempt to commit any of the crimes above. The directive also still includes corporate liability for specific pollutant behaviours.
Harmonising penalty levels across all member states is also part of the amended directive. It also seeks to establish minimum penalty levels, proportionate to the crime.
The maximum prison sentence is up to 10 years for offences which may have caused or are likely to cause death or serious injury. For legal persons, the minimum penalty should be no less than 3% of the total worldwide turnover of the corporation in the business year preceding the fining decision.
The revision also introduces certain ancillary penalties and measures for both natural and legal persons including obligation to rehabilitate polluted or damaged areas.
Since the new Directive entered into force on 20 May 2024, member states now have two years to take the necessary actions to incorporate the directive into their national laws.
Each state must present annual statistics that include the number of environmental crime cases reported as well as the respective national strategies for combating environmental offences.
For more details, click below to download the full Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament:
Source: EU
