45 Amendments of Carles PUIGDEMONT I CASAMAJÓ related to 2021/0422(COD)
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The Union continues to be concerned with the rise in environmental criminal offences and their effects, which undermine the effectiveness of Union environmental legislation. These offences are moreover increasingly extending beyond the borders of the Member States in which the offences are committed. Such offences entail habitat damage and biodiversity loss, amplify climate change, threaten the sustainable livelihood of vulnerable populations, create public health risks. They also pose a threat to the environment and therefore call for an appropriate and effective response.
Amendment 155 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The existing systems of penalties under Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council20 and environmental sectoral law have not been sufficient in all environmental policy area to achieve compliance with Union law for the protection of the environment. Compliance should be strengthened by the availability of criminal penalties, which demonstrate social disapproval of a qualitatively different nature compared to administrative penalties and increase deterrence. _________________ 20 Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on the protection of the environment through criminal law (OJ L 328, 6.12.2008, p. 28).
Amendment 160 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Member States should provide for criminal penalties in their national legislation in respect of serious infringements of provisions of Union law concerning protection of the environment. In the framework of the common fisheries policy, Union law provides for comprehensive set of rules for control and enforcement under Regulation (EC) No 1224/200921 and Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 in case of serious infringements, including those that cause damage to the marine environment. Under this system the Member States have the choice between administrative and/or criminal sanctioning systems. In line with the Communication from the Commission on the European Green Deal22 and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 203023 , certain intentional unlawful conduct coveredall conducts deemed to be serious infringements under Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 and Regulation (EC) 1005/200824 should be established as criminal offences. _________________ 21 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 of 8 April 2011 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 establishing a Community control system for ensuring compliance with the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy (OJ L 112, 30.4.2011, p. 1–153). 22 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS The European Green Deal, COM/2019/640 final. 23 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 Bringing nature back into our lives, COM/2020/380 final 24 Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Regulations (EEC) No 2847/93, (EC) No 1936/2001 and (EC) No 601/2004 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1093/94 and (EC) No 1447/1999, (OJ L 286, 29.10.2008, p. 1– 32).
Amendment 161 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 6 a (new)
Recital 6 a (new)
(6 a) (6a) The establishment of the offence of ecocide would ensure a broad and reinforced prosecution of any action that causes irreversible destruction or longlasting substantial damage to an ecosystem with knowledge that there was a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by these actions. Such broad and reinforced prosecution should ensure that these kinds of acts, which cause extremely grave damage to the environment and are carried out with dolus eventualis, are prosecuted regardless of their specific inclusion on the list contained in Article AM\1258257EN.docx 19/163 PE732.797v01-00EN3(1) and are punished by penalties which are equivalent to those imposed upon when the act causes the death or serious injury of a person.
Amendment 165 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) A conduct should be considered unlawful also when it is carried out under an authorisation by a competent authority in a Member State, or a third country when the conduct is carried out by an EU citizen or a legal person established in the EU if such authorisation, was obtained fraudulently, or by corruption, extortion or coercion. Moreover, operators should take the necessary steps to comply with the legislative, regulatory and administrative provisions concerning the protection of environment applicable when they carry out the respective activity, including by complying with their obligations, as laid down in applicable EU and national laws, in procedures governing amendments or updates to existing authorisations.
Amendment 172 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In criminal proceedings and trials, due account should be taken of the involvement of organised criminal groups operating in ways that negatively impact the environment. Criminal proceedings should address corruption, money laundering, cyber-crime and document fraud and – in relation to business activities – the intention of the offender to maximise profits or save expenses, where these occur in the context of environmental crime. These crime forms are often interconnected with serious environmental crime forms and should therefore not be dealt with in isolation. In this respect, it is of particular concern that some environmental crimes are committed with the tolerance or active support of the competent administrations or officials performing his/her public duty. In certain cases this can even take the form of corruption. Examples of such behaviours are turning a blind eye or remaining silent on the infringement of laws protecting the environment following inspections, deliberately omitting inspections or controls for example with regard to whether the conditions of a permit are being respected by the permit-holder, resolutions or votes in favour of granting illegal licences or issuing falsified or untrue favourable reports or, especially in developing countries, promoting prosecution of environmental defenders who act against projects that may constitute an environmental crime.
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) A further approximation and effectiveness of sanction levels imposed in practice should be fostered through common aggravating circumstances that reflect the severity of the crime committed. Where the death of, or serious injury to, a person, have been caused and where these elements are not already constituent for the criminal offence, these could be considered as aggravating circumstances. Equally, when an environmental criminal offenceOn the other hand, when any act causes substantial and irreversible or long- lasting damage to an entire ecosystem, this should be an aggravating circumstance because of its severity, including in cases comparable to ecocideestablished as a separate criminal offence of ecocide, which should be prosecuted regardless of its specific inclusion in Article 3(1) and should be punished with the same penalties imposed upon to criminal offences listed in Article 3 (1) that cause the death or serious injury of a person. As the illegal profits or expenditure that can be generated or avoided through environmental crime are an important incentive for criminals and often fuel criminal organisations, these should be taken into account when determining the appropriate level of sanctioning in the individual case.
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) The obligations in this Directive to provide for criminal penalties should not exempt Member States from the obligation to provide for effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative sanctions and other measures in national law for breaches established in Union environmental legislation.
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Given, in particular, the mobility of perpetrators of illegal conduct covered by this Directive, together with the cross- border nature of offences and the possibility of cross-border investigations, including conducts carried out in third states, Member States should establish jurisdiction in order to counter such conduct effectively.
Amendment 212 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) To effectively tackle the criminal offences referred to in this Directive, it is necessary that competent authorities in the Member States collect accurate, consistent and comparable data on the scale of and trends in environmental offences and the efforts to combat them and their results. These data should be used for preparing statistics to serve the operational and strategic planning of enforcement activities as well as for providing information to citizens. Member States should collect and report to the Commission relevant statistical data on environmental offences. The Commission should regularannually assess and publish the results based on the data transmitted by the Member States.
Amendment 220 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – paragraph 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – paragraph 1
The conduct shall be deemed unlawful even if carried out under an authorisation by a competent authority in a Member State, or in a third state where the conduct was carried out by an EU citizen or a legal person established in the EU, when the authorisation was obtained fraudulently or by corruption, extortion or coercion;
Amendment 272 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Member States shall establish as "ecocide" any action that causes destruction or irreversible or long-lasting substantial damage to an ecosystem with knowledge that there was a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by this action.
Amendment 283 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. monetary value of the damage.
Amendment 296 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. the scale of the financial benefits gained by committing the offence.
Amendment 307 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Member States shall take the necessary measures to develop alternative measures to imprisonment in order to contribute to the restoration of the environment
Amendment 313 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point b
(b) fines, which shall be proportional to the damage caused by the offence;
Amendment 321 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. lifelong prohibition on working with and owning animals;
Amendment 322 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 b (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Reimbursement of costs made by third parties who have investigated, reported or sued the offender;
Amendment 323 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) an authority to exercise control within the legal person, including supply chain due diligence.
Amendment 324 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall also ensure that legal persons can be held liable where the lack of supervision or control throughout its entire supply chain by a person referred to in paragraph 1 has made possible the commission of an offence referred to in Articles 3 and 4 for the benefit of the legal person by a person under its authority.
Amendment 349 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 4
Article 7 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that offences referred to in Article 3(1) points (a) to (j), (n), (q), (r) are punishable by fines, the maximum limit of which shall be not less than 15% of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person [/undertaking] in the business year preceding the fining decision.
Amendment 355 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 5
Article 7 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that offences referred to in Article 3(1) points (k), (l), (m), (o), (p) are punishable by fines, the maximum limit of which shall be not less than 310% of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person [/undertaking] in the business year preceding the fining decision.
Amendment 356 #
5 a. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that offences referred to in Article 3(1a) are punishable by fines, the maximum limit of which shall be not less than 25% of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person [/undertaking] in the business year preceding the fining decision.
Amendment 375 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
the offence damaged a Natura 2000 site;
Amendment 376 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 b (new)
the offence damaged a legally protected area in a third country;
Amendment 377 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 c (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 c (new)
the offence converges with other crimes.
Amendment 380 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 9 – paragraph 1 a (new)
the offender restores nature to its previous condition prior to the indictment of criminal proceedings;
Amendment 386 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 11 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the limitation period of criminal offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 does not commence until the concrete scope of the damage to the environment has been fully measured by appropriate scientific means.
Amendment 388 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) of offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 which are punishable by a maximum sanction of at least tfifteen years of imprisonment, for a period of at least tfifteen years from the time when the offence was committed, when offences are punishable;
Amendment 390 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point b
(b) of offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 which are punishable by a maximum sanction of at least sixten years of imprisonment, for a period of at least sixten years from the time when the offence was committed, when offences are punishable;
Amendment 393 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) of offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 which are punishable by a maximum sanction of at least foursix years of imprisonment, for a period of at least foursix years from the time when the offence was committed, when offences are punishable.
Amendment 394 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 3
Article 11 – paragraph 3
Amendment 397 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 4 – point a
Article 11 – paragraph 4 – point a
(a) a penalty of imprisonment in the case of a criminal offence which is punishable by a maximum sanction of at least tfifteen years of imprisonment, imposed following a final conviction for a criminal offence referred to in Articles 3 and 4, for at least tfifteen years from the date of the final conviction;
Amendment 398 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 4 – point b
Article 11 – paragraph 4 – point b
(b) a penalty of imprisonment in the case of a criminal offence which is punishable by a maximum sanction of at least sixten years of imprisonment, imposed following a final conviction for a criminal offence referred to in Articles 3 and 4, for at least sixten years from the date of the final conviction;
Amendment 399 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 4 – point c
Article 11 – paragraph 4 – point c
(c) a penalty of imprisonment in the case of a criminal offence which is punishable by a maximum sanction of at least four sixyears of imprisonment, imposed following a final conviction for a criminal offence referred to in Articles 3 and 4, for at least four yearssix from the date of the final conviction.
Amendment 400 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) the offender is one of its nationals or habitual residents., regardless of whether the offence takes place in an EU Member State or a third country;
Amendment 404 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. the offence is committed for the benefit of a legal person established on its territory;
Amendment 405 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. the offence is committed against one of its nationals or its habitual residents;
Amendment 406 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 c (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. the offence has created a severe risk for the environment on its territory.
Amendment 407 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 2
Article 12 – paragraph 2
Amendment 426 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Member States shall ensure that, in accordance with their national legal system, members of the public concerned have appropriate rights to participate in proceedings concerning offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4, for instance as a civil party or as a private prosecution.
Amendment 430 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Member States shall take appropriate action, such as preventive law enforcement tools, information and awareness- raising campaigns and research and education programmes, to reduce overall environmental criminal offences, raise public awareness and reduce the risk of population of becoming a victim of an environmental criminal offence. Where appropriate, Member States shall act in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders.
Amendment 434 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Member States shall ensure that national authorities which prevent, detect, investigate, prosecute or adjudicate environmental offences have a sufficient number of qualified staff and sufficient financial, technical and technological resources necessary for the effective performance of their functions related to the implementation of this Directive.
Amendment 459 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 3
Article 21 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall ensure that a consolidated review of their statistics is regularannually published.
Amendment 461 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 5
Article 21 – paragraph 5
5. The Commission shall regularannually publish a report based on the statistical data transmitted by the Member States. The report shall be published for the first time three years after the standard format referred to in Article 22 has been determined.