Activities of Pierfrancesco MAJORINO related to 2021/0422(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law and replacing Directive 2008/99/EC
Amendments (21)
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 a (new)
Recital 1 a (new)
(1a) According to Article 3(5) TEU, the Union in its relations with the wider world shall uphold and promote its values and contribute to the protection of all human rights, in particular, the rights of the child as well as the strict observance and development of international law.
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 b (new)
Recital 1 b (new)
(1b) The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union recognizes fundamental rights as they result from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States and affirms that it should not be interpreted as restricting or adversely affecting human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in their respective fields of application by Union law, International Law and by international agreements to which the Union and all Member States are party, including the European Convention for the Protection of Human rights and Fundamental Freedoms and by the Member States constitutions.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 c (new)
Recital 1 c (new)
(1c) The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment has been recognized as a human right by the UN General Assembly in its recent resolution of 26 July 2022 (A/RES/76/300) where it is affirmed that the promotion of this human rights requires the full implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements under the principles of international environmental law and call upon international organisations, states, business enterprises and other relevant stakeholder to adopt policies , to enhance international cooperation, strengthen capacity building and share good practices in order to scale up efforts to ensure a clean, healthy and sustainable environment for all.
Amendment 105 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 14 a (new)
Recital 14 a (new)
(14a) The condition of the effectiveness of the sanctions recommends introducing in this Directive also the environmental restorative justice approach, so demanded by civil society and specialized organizations. The restorative model has a preventive approach, aimed at repairing the damage caused and creating the environmental awareness necessary to avoid it in the future. It can be done, through among others, recovery environmental funds, environmental social projects or community services in benefit of the environment. Environmental restorative justice also aspires to allow the participation of victims in the process, in the determination of the sanction and in the future of the environmental management of the sanctioned corporations, for example, allowing the entry into the social capital or shareholding of the affected local communities.
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point k
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point k
(k) the abstraction or contamination of surface water or groundwater which causes or is likely to cause substantial damage to the ecological status or potential of surface water bodies or to the quantitative status of groundwater bodies;
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point k a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point k a (new)
(ka) the start and spread of fires that cause or may cause substantial damage to the quality of the air, or the soil, or the water, or to animals or plants, and/or may seriously harm the balance of natural systems/environment and/or death or serious injury to people or other human rights violations including the displacement of populations and animals;
Amendment 139 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k a (new)
(ka) community services in favour of the environment;
Amendment 140 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k b (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k b (new)
(kb) request for apologies and forgiveness to the affected victims;
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k c (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k c (new)
(kc) financial contributions to environmental or human rights organizations, especially in development countries;
Amendment 142 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k d (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k d (new)
(kd) attribution of shares or social capital to the victims in the development countries.
Amendment 145 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that offences referred to in Article 3a are punishable by fines, paid by the legal person committing the environmental offences, the minimum amount of which shall be between 15 and 30 % of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person in the business year preceding the decision and the maximum being the total restoration of the damage to the environment and compensation and damages to affected legal and natural persons.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) the offence affected or is likely to affect vulnerable groups such as children, youth, women people with disabilities, elderly or indigenous communities;
Amendment 147 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
(ab) the offence has caused or will cause damage to future generations;
Amendment 149 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) the offender holds a political position or have been entrusted with prominent public functions;
Amendment 151 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
(ja) the offence has caused serious injuries or the death of human rights or environmental defenders, journalists, members of NGOs or persons reporting criminal offences or it entails coercing or attacking these groups.
Amendment 152 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the offender restores nature to its previous condition or/and fair compensation to the victims;
Amendment 153 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) the offender admits his guilt. This circumstance shall be conditional to adequate compensation to deal with the damage caused to the environment and to a fair compensation for the victims;
Amendment 155 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Member States shall adopt the necessary measures so that the confiscated assets are integrated into social funds dedicated to carrying out environmental repair projects in the affected environments and the affected local communities, especially in the development countries.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure the return of confiscated funds/assets of environmental crimes to the developing countries where the offence was committed while ensuring that they are used for appropriate purposes such as restoring the environmental damages, compensating the victims and local communities ,improving the living conditions of the affected population or strengthening the country rule of law systems.
Amendment 177 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 1
Article 17 – paragraph 1
Without prejudice to judicial independence and differences in the organisation of the judiciary across the Union, Member States shall request those responsible for the training of judges, prosecutors, police, judicial staff, and competent authorities’ staff involved in criminal proceedings and investigations, including environmental experts, to provide at regular intervals specialised training with respect to the objectives of this Directive and appropriate to the functions of the involved staff and authorities.
Amendment 179 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – point h a (new)
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – point h a (new)
(ha) The length of environmental court proceedings from the beginning of the investigation to the issuance of the judicial sentence and including its execution.