The European Commission wants to punish the most serious crimes against the environment with minimum jail terms of five to 10 years and fines of up to €1.5 million ($1.9 million), according to a draft proposal obtained by Reuters.
The EC is to seek the minimum sentences for nine offences ranging from dumping toxic waste to unsafe transport of hazardous materials, harming protected plants or species, and unlawful trade in ozone-depleting substances.
The heaviest sentence – at least five to 10 years in jail – would apply to “green crimes” committed intentionally that killed or seriously injured people. Other offences would be punished by at least one to three years in prison.
Companies could be fined at least €750,000 to €1.5 million when a senior executive is responsible for an environmental offence that kills or seriously injures someone. Firms would also be forced to clean up and directors could be removed from their jobs.
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The EC, which is due to publish the proposal on Friday, says “green crimes” are on the rise, increasingly causing cross-border damage. It adds that existing measures in European Union countries are insufficient and vary too much, allowing companies to shop around for the most lenient legislation in the borderless bloc.
Power games
Member states and the European Parliament must approve the draft directive for it to take effect, overriding national laws. The move would be the first time EU-wide minimum sentences were applied to environmental crimes. The EU already sets such standards for terrorism and drug trafficking.
Environmental group Greenpeace welcomed the move. “It’s certainly an improvement on the current situation, in which some member states only have administrative fines,” spokeswoman Katharine Mill said. But she said the proposed fines were too low and the scope of the proposal should be wider, to include for instance import of illegal timber.
But some accused the EC of playing power games. “The EC is using the environmental agenda as an excuse to massively increase its powers at the expense of national parliaments. This is a very slippery slope,” said Syed Kamall, Conservative member of the European Parliament for London, UK.
