Activities of Marie TOUSSAINT related to 2020/2027(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Liability of companies for environmental damage (continuation of debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the liability of companies for environmental damage
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on liability of companies for environmental damage
Amendments (114)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to Article 37 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)
Citation 1 b (new)
- having regard to the project of Global Pact for the Environment currently discussed at UN level,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
- having regard to the note of the Finnish presidency of the Council on the ‘Eighth round of mutual evaluations on environmental crime’ (November 2019)1a, _________________ 1a https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/docu ment/ST-14065-2019-INIT/en/pdf
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 b (new)
Citation 10 b (new)
- having regard to the study of the European Environmental Bureau on ‘Crime and Punishment’ (March 2020)2a, _________________ 2ahttps://eeb.org/library/crime-and- punishment/
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 c (new)
Citation 10 c (new)
- having regard to the ‘Evaluation of the Environmental Crime Directive’ of the European Economic and Social Committee (December 2019)3a, _________________ 3ahttps://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our- work/opinions-information- reports/information-reports/evaluation- environmental-crime-directive
Amendment 6 #
- having regard to the Briefing note of the EPRS on the ‘Update environmental liability of companies. Some thoughts on selected possible amendments of the ELD’‘ (October 2020)4a, _________________ 4a https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/ etudes/IDAN/2020/659924/IPOL_IDA(20 20)659924_EN.pdf
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 e (new)
Citation 10 e (new)
- having regard to the staff working document of the European Commission on the evaluation of the Environmental Crime Directive (October 2020)5a, _________________ 5ahttps://eur- lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:4 33ac4c4-1938-11eb-b57e- 01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format= PDF
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 f (new)
Citation 10 f (new)
- having regard to the joint report of the French Ministries of Justice and of the Ecological Transition on ‘Une justice pour l’environnement — Mission d’évaluation des relations entre justice et environnement’ (October 2019)6a, _________________ 6a http://www.justice.gouv.fr/art_pix/rapport _justice_pour_environnement.pdf
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 g (new)
Citation 10 g (new)
- having regard to the conclusions and recommendations of the European Union Action to Fight Environmental Crime (EFFACE) (March 2016)7a, _________________ 7a https://efface.eu/sites/default/files/publicat ions/EFFACE_Conclusions_recommenda tions.pdf
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 h (new)
Citation 10 h (new)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the EU’s coordinated environmental strategy encourages cooperation and ensures that EU policies are consistent with each other; whereas the European Green Deal sets the ambition of zero-pollution, to be delivered through a cross cutting strategy to protect citizens’ health from environmental degradation and pollution while at the same time calls for a just transition that leaves nobody behind;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. Whereas ensuring the liability for environmental damage is key to making European businesses more sustainable over the long term; whereas such an achievement is closely interlinked through the development of related legislation on corporate due diligence, corporate social accountability and sustainable corporate governance;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the ELD coexists with other liability instruments and provisions, both at EU and Member State level; whereas incidents that give rise to ELD liabilities may trigger criminal, civil or administrative proceedings in parallel; whereas the ELD itself leaves room for a broad harmonised scope of liable persons which ultimately contradicts the full application of a strict liability regime according to the Polluter Pays Principle under Article 191 TFEU;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. Whereas ex-post liability rules complement ex-ante safety regulation and market-based instrument (such as environmental taxation) aiming at the reduction of environmental harm in order to fulfil the objectives of prevention and compensation;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. Whereas the current regime for environmental liability, by not encompassing diffuse pollution by companies whose activities result in the production, use or release of hazardous chemicals, nanoplastics, pesticides, CO2 and other greenhouse gases emissions, is not adequate to fully ensure a high level of protection of the environment;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
B c. Whereas there is an increasing number of cases where victims of pollution caused by subsidiaries of European companies try to bring environmental liability lawsuits against parent companies before courts in the EU;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the ELD established ‘a framework of environmental liability based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, to prevent and remedy environmental damage; whereas the ELD complements main pieces of EU environmental legislation, to which it is directly or indirectly linked, in particular the Habitat Directive9 , the Birds Directive10 , the Water Framework Directive11 , the Marine Strategy Framework Directive12 and the Offshore Safety Directive13 ; _________________ 10Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds, OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7. 11Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1. 12Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy, OJ L 164, 25.6.2008, p. 19. 13Directive 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on safety of offshore oil and gas operations, OJ L 178, 28.6.2013, p. 66. 9Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7.
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the ELD, which established a framework of environmental liability based on the Polluter-Pays principle to prevent and remediate environmental damage, complements main pieces of EU environmental legislation, to which it is directly or indirectly linked, in particular the Habitat Directive9 , the Birds Directive10 , the Water Framework Directive11 , the Marine Strategy Framework Directive12 and the Offshore Safety Directive13 ; _________________ 9Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7. 10Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds, OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7. 11Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 1. 12Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy, OJ L 164, 25.6.2008, p. 19. 13Directive 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on safety of offshore oil and gas operations, OJ L 178, 28.6.2013, p. 66.
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas it appears that the majority of Member States do not provide for mandatory financial security instruments in their legislation, but several countries do require them15 ; whereas, where implemented, these instruments seem to have proved their worth, showing the interest of an harmonised mandatory financial security regime at EU level; _________________ 15 Directorate-General for Environment, Outcome of the Specific Contract 'Support for the REFIT actions for the ELD – phase 2', European Commission, Brussels, 2019, p. 17.
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas although sufficient insurance cover is available in most markets, including for complementary and compensatory remediation, demand is generally low due to a lack of reported incidents, sub-optimal enforcement and slower developments in emerging markets16 ; ; whereas this as such does not form an obstacle to introducing mandatory financial guarantees; _________________ 16REFIT Evaluation of the Environmental Liability Directive, p. 47.
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas operator insolvency as a consequence of major accidents remains a problem in the EU; whereas shareholders may indeed use the corporate veil in order to abuse their limited liability to invest in hazardous industries through separate legal entities in order to externalise environmental costs; whereas it is unacceptable that public authorities and victims often have to bear significant financial costs derived from companies’ environmental misconducts;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas operator insolvency as a consequence of major accidents remains a problem in the EU, thereby resulting in the disregard for the “’polluter pays’ principle;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. wWhereas in some cases, corporate board members are aware ofnd top executives are aware of and therefore make the conscious choice of launching, conducting or financing activities with a high risk of causing environmental damage, but putthereby putting short-term profit above responsible behaviour towards ecosystems, future generations and society as a whole;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. Whereas there is urgent need for an international approach to environmental crime due to its global impact and transboundary nature, as is shown by the example of the international Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime bringing together five international organisations - the CITES secretariat, INTERPOL, UNODC, the World Bank and the World Customs Organisation (WCO); whereas a mandate for the Commission to actively engage in bilateral and multilateral fora with the aim of securing an ambitious global level playing field for combating environmental crime is necessary;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s efforts to assess and bridge gaps in the implementation of the ELD and the ECD across the Member States;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. ObservDeplores that the discretionary powers set out in the ELD and the weak mechanisms for securing compliance and effective governance at national, regional and local level have led to implementation deficiencies, low detection, investigation, prosecution, and conviction rate for environmental damage -notably resulting in a lack of adequate compensation for the harm suffered by the victims of environmental degradation-, considerable variability between Member States in the number of cases, and an uneven playing field for operators; deplores that such flaws also impact ECD implementation; is therefore of the opinion that additional efforts are required to ensure regulatory standardisation in the EU and increased public confidence in the effectiveness of EU laws;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. ObservesPoints out that the discretionary powers set out in the ELD, the lack of awareness and information about the ELD, insufficient resources and expertise and the weak mechanisms for securing compliance and effective governance at national, regional and local level have led to implementation deficiencies, considerable variability between Member States in the number of cases, and an uneven playing field for operators; is therefore of the opinion that additional efforts are required to ensure regulatory standardisation in the EU and increased public confidence in the effectiveness of EU laws;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Considers that environmental liability and criminal regimes, within ELD and ECD and horizontally in EU law, should cover pure ecological damage; notes that the definitions of environmental damage set out in the ELD and ECD hamper the effective protection of the environment by artificially separating damage to protected species and natural habitats, water damage and land damage; calls for the definition of environmental damage to be amended in order to take a more holistic approach and include air pollution and greenhouse gases emissions; also calls for the establishment of an environmental and criminal liability and criminal regime for cumulative and diffuse pollution, consistently with the Polluter-Pays Principle;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Regrets that in many Member States, the budgets of environmental inspectorates have stagnated or decreased due to the financial crisis and that even large, well-resourced authorities can find it difficult to independently develop knowledge of the best ways to ensure compliance; is thus of the opinion that stronger support at EU level is needed and, therefore, calls on the Commission to support Member States in the development of tools for operators, competent authorities, civil society organisations and insurers, for example through accessible information portals, commonly used networks (EU networks for practitioners), best practice information and guidance, additional training programmes, training materials and guidance on skills, as this could increase the pressure on ‘black sheep’ companies and, benefit companies that respect the law and would enable stakeholders, operators and the public to become more aware of the existence of the ELD regime and its enforcement and thus contribute to better prevention and remediation of environmental damages;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Regrets that in many Member States, the budgets of environmental inspectorates have stagnated or decreased due to the financial crisis and that even large, well-resourced authorities can find it difficult to independently develop knowledge of the best ways to ensure compliance; regrets that the reduction of inspections has also concerned the Safety of Offshore Oil and Gas Operations Directive and might occur in other cases when environmental damages can be extensively dangerous9a, is thus of the opinion that stronger support at EU level is needed, for example through accessible information portals, commonly used networks (EU networks for practitioners), best practice information and guidance, additional training programmes, training materials and guidance on skills, as this could increase the pressure on ‘black sheep’ companies and benefit companies that respect the law; _________________ 9aEuropean Commission, Annual report on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations in the European Union for the year 2018, COM 2020(263), 25 June 2020.
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Regrets that environmental crime is one of the most prevalent criminal activities in the world, benefiting from low detection probability, low prosecution rates and low penalties for environmental damages; calls on the Member States to increase the level of expertise of prosecutors and judges in environmental crimes and its effects, with a view to more efficiently prosecuting environmental crime; calls on Member States to set up or reinforce specialised units within their national police services at the appropriate levels for the investigation of environmental offences and to provide them with sufficient human, financial and technical resources, with a view to reinforcing their inspection and enforcement capacity in combating environmental crime;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Takes the view that one of the various causes of the insufficient harmonisation of the ELD is the failure to provide for the application of a standard administrative procedure for notifying competent authorities of imminent threats of or actual environmental damage; regrets therefore that there is no obligation to publish such notifications or information about how cases are dealt with; notes that some Member States have identified this limitation in their national legislation and have consequently set up databases for notifications, incidents and cases; points out, however, that the practice varies greatly from Member State to Member State and is rather limited; stresses that, the revised ELD should ensure that entities operating in the public interest, including NGOs and affected communities, have a full access to information and data and can play an effective role in commencing and pursuing environmental liability actions in the EU;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Points outreiterates that reliable data on environmental incidents giving rise to the application of the ELD or other administrative, civil or criminal instruments should be collected and should be made public in order to establish whether a combination of different legal instruments could adequately respond to environmental harm, or whether serious gaps still exist that need to be remedied; asks for the establishment of a European register of cases of environmental damage governed by the ELD and calls the Commission and all the Member States to develop public available databases for reporting on ELD cases in order to create better trust in the ELD system and better implementation;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Points out that reliable data on, notably on the number of environmental full time staff available to inspect and monitor, on the number of environmental incidents giving rise to the application of the ELD or other administrative, civil or criminal instruments, and on the remedies given, should be collected in order to establish whether a combination of different legal instruments could adequately respond to environmental harm, or whether serious gaps still exist that need to be remedied; stresses that these data should also be made public;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that in almost all ELD cases, most operators cooperate with administrative authorities to work towards remediation; notes, however, that the average cost of remedial action is EUR 42 00019 , but that costs were substantially higher in a few significant cases; regrets therefore that in those cases, cost recovery was impossible due to the operator’s insolvency, and that as a result, costs had to be covered by the state, and indirectly the taxpayer, a phenomenon that has to be avoided in the future; _________________ 19 Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs, Environmental liability of companies, European Parliament, Brussels, 2020, p. 110.therefore calls on the Commission to impose in the revised ELD regime mandatory financial guarantees on all companies conducting activities implying environmental risks;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for the ELD to be revised as soon as possible and toUrges the Commission to present a revised accelerated legislative calendar both for the revision of the ELD and of the ECD; considers that the ELD should be transformed into a fully harmonised regulation in order to achieve a level- playing field for EU industry and a high level of protection of the environment pursuant to art. 191 TFEU;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Is of the opinion that enforcement should be harmonised and that an EU ELD task force made up of highly qualified experts and Commission officials should be created to support the Member States, upon request, with the implementation and enforcement of the directive on the one hand, and to support and advise victims of environmental damage on the available options for legal action at EU level on the other (comparable to SOLVIT); further calls on the Commission to assess the possibility of establishing an EU-based agency vested with monitoring and enforcement powers, in order to enhance legal certainty for operators, enhance uniform implementation of the EU environmental liability regime and deter incorrect application thereof across Member States;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Stresses the need to improve access to justice for victims of environmental harm, including through collective actions, representative actions and redress mechanisms; stresses that barriers to access to remedies should be lifted, including insufficient court powers to order effective redress; recognizes the importance of the reversal of the burden of proof as a necessary precondition for effective remedies in case of diffuse environmental damage; emphasises the key role of environmental NGOs in raising awareness and taking legal actions to ensure the respect of environmental laws; accordingly, stresses the need to improve access to justice for NGOs, notably in case of widespread pollution, including by removing litigation barriers to initiate legal actions, in particular related to legal standing and costs of litigation; further considers that, in order to generally improve access to justice, regulations prohibiting lawyers to charge result-based fees should be abrogated, victims of environmental corporate abuse should be given priority in bankruptcy proceedings, and third party funding of litigation should be allowed;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Acknowledges the intrinsic value of ecosystems and their right to protection and calls for the introduction of mechanisms to allow environmental organisations initiate legal proceedings on their behalf; calls for reporting and monitoring of the full restoration of ecosystems; stresses also the need for legal recognition of the shared world heritage;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9 b. Stresses that the objective of reaching effective accountability for environmental damage can be significantly undermined when public participation is threatened by companies’ recourse to Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and other abusive legal claims; calls on the Commission to introduce additional preventive measures, procedural safeguards and exemplary sanctions against companies bringing abusive lawsuits aimed at deterring public participation and intimidating victims in the context of environmental damage;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9 c. Considers that the environmental liability framework should provide effective mediation and remedies to victims of environmental damage and associated human rights violations, including operational-level grievance mechanisms; believes that special protections should be provided to indigenous peoples, environmental whistle-blowers, and human rights defenders; also stresses that protection should in any event be granted to individuals obliged to leave their habitual home due, in whole or in part, to sudden or progressive business-induced environmental damages that adversely affect their life or living conditions;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9 d. Strongly condemns any form of violence, harassment and intimidation - including defamation processes and other strategic lawsuits against public participation - perpetrated against environmentalists and human rights defenders, whether directly - against those individuals themselves - or indirectly - against their family, friends or colleagues; calls on the Member States to ensure proper and effective investigation and prosecution of those acts, in order for those defenders to be able to act free from threat, restriction and insecurity; emphasises the crucial role of environmental human rights defenders for human rights and fundamental freedom to enjoy a clean, safe, healthy and sustainable environment;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 e (new)
Paragraph 9 e (new)
9 e. Considers that the framework should oblige companies to have an effective environmental reporting mechanism that should be transparent, accessible and trustworthy; Reiterates in this regard the need to strengthen standards in terms of mandatory disclosure of information by undertakings in the remit of the revision of Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on non-financial reporting, notably by including an enforcement and sanctioning mechanism to support the reporting requirements;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 f (new)
Paragraph 9 f (new)
9 f. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up protection and support schemes for the victims of environmental damage and to ensure their full access to justice, information and compensation; emphasises the key role of environmental NGOs in raising awareness, representing the victims’ interests, and taking legal action; calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide them with the appropriate financial support;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 g (new)
Paragraph 9 g (new)
9 g. Acknowledges the Rights of Nature, and stresses that public authorities should adopt a Rights of Nature approach to environmental protection wherein mechanisms, such as legal guardianship bodies, are established to represent the rights and interests of natural entities such as lakes, rivers, and other ecosystems; where Rights of Nature approaches are adopted, individuals, NGO and other affected stakeholders should be able to compel reparation and restoration from the harm suffered on behalf of natural entities harmed through environmental damage; further calling for the establishments of specific standards to enforce the Rights of Nature where recognized in practice;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 h (new)
Paragraph 9 h (new)
9 h. Welcomes the Commission legislative proposal amending the Aarhus Regulation 1367/2006 (COM(2020) 642 final) to allow for better public scrutiny of EU acts affecting the environment; in this respect calls on the Council in its capacity as a co-legislator for the effective implementation of the third pillar of the Aarhus Convention to guarantee access to courts for natural persons and NGOs for representative action to directly file a lawsuit against an operator potentially liable for environmental damage, whatever its form;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 i (new)
Paragraph 9 i (new)
9 i. Considers that the Commission proposal on the revision of the Aarhus Regulation should be amended, notably in order to broaden the scope of the internal review mechanism to acts requiring national implementing measures and state aid decisions of the European Commission, as well as to introduce cost regulation provisions protecting environmental organisations;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Believes that most definitions in the ELD should be further clarified and broaden, to make the directive fair and clear to all stakeholders, such as operators, competent authorities, civil society organisations and insurers and to keep pace with the rapid evolution of pollutants; welcomes therefore the current efforts to develop a common understanding document (CUD) on key ELD definitions and concepts; regrets, however, that the Commission and the ELD government expert groups did not reach an agreement on its format, meaning that the CUD remains a document produced by the consultancy which was hired by the Commission to support the implementation of the 2017-2020 Multi- annual ELD Work Programme;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Calls on the Commission to include 'ecosystems' and ‘recreational uses and amenities of the environment' in the definitions of 'environmental damage’ and 'natural resource' of Article 2;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Further considers that diffuse form of pollution should also be effectively incorporated in a comprehensive revision of the liability framework; stresses in particular that companies and their subsidiaries whose activities notably result in the production, use or release of hazardous chemicals, nano-plastics, pesticides, CO2 and other greenhouse gases emissions, should also be held liable; further stresses that causality requirements should not constitute a hurdle to recognise liability in case of diffuse or cumulative damage, such as climate change or biodiversity loss; consequently calls on the Commission to make sure that the scope of its future proposal of Environmental Liability Regulation and ECD also covers diffuse forms of pollution or to propose a rapidly needed new legislation to establish a liability regime for diffuse pollution, consistently with the Polluter-Pays principle;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10 c. Regrets that activities with potential negative impacts on biodiversity and the environment such as the pipeline transport of hazardous substances and the introduction of invasive alien species are currently not covered by the requirement for strict liability; notes in particular for biodiversity damage, the activities listed in Annex III do not sufficiently cover the sectors that could potentially give rise to damage;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. AsksCalls on the Commission to undertake a study to establish whether extending the scope of the ELD to align it with other pieces of EU legislation, including the ECD, could limitharmonise and extend the scope of the ELD to cover all damage to the environment including pure environmental damage, having regard to the Rights of Nature and future generations; calls for the categories of dangerous activities set out in Annex III ELD to be expanded to include all activities that are potentially harmful to the environment and human health including air and the atmosphere; further adds that, with regard to land damage, the scope should be expanded beyond the simple reference to the ‘significant risk to human health’; asks more broadly the Commission to extend the scope of the ELD to align it with other pieces of EU legislation, including the Industrial Emissions Directive and the ECD, in order to limit and ultimately avoid the materialisation of short- and long-term damage to the environment, human health and air quality; asks the Commission, furthermore, to assess whether the precautionary principle approach properly presupposes potentially dangerous risks or effects;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. AskCalls the Commission to undertake a study to establish whether extending the scope of the ELD to align it with other pieces of EU legislation, including the ECD, could limit short- and long-term damage to the environment, human health and air qualityextend the scope of the ELD strict liability to non- Annex III activities to cover all environmental damage, as well as to human health, such as air pollution by cars violating EU car emissions legislation so as to improve the effectiveness of the legislation in implementing the ‘polluter pays’ principle; considers that such extension of scope would streamline the ELD with other pieces of EU legislation on protecting human health and environment, including the ECD, and would facilitate adding provisions to the ELD, such as including a requirement to carry out preventive measures and emergency remedial action, either in the directive itself or in national law implementing it; asks the Commission, furthermore, to assess wthether the precautionary principle approach properly presupposes potentially dangerous risks or effects; potential damage that the so-called industry-led ‘innovation principle’ can have on the short and long term, and the danger it poses to the established precautionary principle and its ability to limit liability in environmental damage;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Notes that the activities listed in Annex III do not sufficiently cover the sectors that could potentially give rise to environmental damage; points out that there are activities with potential negative impacts on biodiversity and the environment, such as the pipeline of transport of hazardous substances outside of industrial establishments covered by Annex III, mining, the introduction of invasive alien species and shale gas operations, that are currently not covered by the requirement for strict liability;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure strict producer liability;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Calls for any operator benefitting from the carrying out of activities to be also liable, under the ELD, for any environmental damage or pollution caused by those activities;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11 c. Calls for the scope of the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) and the definitions of environmental damage to be expanded to cover all damage to the environment, all types of environmental damage and damage caused by any occupational activity;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11 d. Notes that in Article 1 ELD, the framework of environmental liabilityshould be broadened to include environmental rehabilitation and ecological restoration to the baseline condition after occupational activities have ended, even when environmental damage is caused by activities or emissions expressly authorised by the competent authorities;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 e (new)
Paragraph 11 e (new)
11 e. Calls for the introduction of punitive damages for environmental liability under the ELD;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 f (new)
Paragraph 11 f (new)
11 f. Notes that the significance threshold required according to the definition of environmental damage under Article 3 ELD has proved problematic in Member States’ practice to ensure a high level of protection of the environment; calls therefore for the repeal of this threshold, or for detailed clarification by EU law in order to remove barriers to the protection of the environment;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 g (new)
Paragraph 11 g (new)
11 g. Stresses that pure environmental damage should entail administrative, civil and criminal liability of responsible companies; also stresses that those forms of liability coexist with other liability regimes in business law, such as consumer law or competition law, which can also be triggered by some companies’ conducts resulting in environmental damage;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 h (new)
Paragraph 11 h (new)
11 h. Stresses that environmental legislation is EU legislation where there is the highest implementation deficit by the Member States; notes that while this indicates failure of Member States to comply with the EU acquis, it is often actions of private and legal persons which have caused the breach; stresses that there should be some correlation between infringements of environmental legislation and application of effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions and penalties under the Environmental Liability Directive and Environmental Crime Directive; calls on the Commission to improve the cooperation between the respective Directorates-General to ensure the coherence where applicable and issue guidance and recommendations to Member States for effective implementation;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 i (new)
Paragraph 11 i (new)
11 i. Stresses that the EU environmental liability regime shall respect policy coherence for development (PCD) and the do-no-harm principle;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 j (new)
Paragraph 11 j (new)
11 j. Calls on the Commission to take action, including legal action where applicable, to ensure that the lengthy procedures in Member States deciding on liability for environmental burdens do not jeopardise the objective of high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment as enshrined in EU Charter of Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 k (new)
Paragraph 11 k (new)
11 k. Underlines that all the acts causing or likely to cause substantial damage to the quality of air, the quality of soil or the quality of water, or to animals or plants must be covered by art 3(a) ECD; thus calls on the Commission and the Member States to remove the regulatory and administrative barriers for the implementation of environmental penal law and the ECD;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 l (new)
Paragraph 11 l (new)
11 l. Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of a legislative proposal for the crime of ecocide;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 m (new)
Paragraph 11 m (new)
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 n (new)
Paragraph 11 n (new)
11 n. Encourages the Commission to develop a harmonised classification of environmental crimes and ecological harm together with a prescribed classification of appropriate sanctions in order to provide guidance to competent national authorities and prosecutors regarding the enforcement of sanctions established under the ECD;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 o (new)
Paragraph 11 o (new)
11 o. Calls on the Commission to enforce the application of sanctions established under the ECD; urges the Commission and the Member States to ensure that all complaints related to infringements of ECD provisions be treated more quickly and efficiently; calls for reliable and public data to be made available concerning those complaints brought under ECD; considers in this regard that national authorities and bodies responsible for dealing with complaints, investigation and prosecution should be given extended financial means; further considers that national judges and practitioners should be provided with specific trainings on environmental crimes at EU and national level, and that practitioner networks willing to provide training to their members should be encouraged;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 p (new)
Paragraph 11 p (new)
11 p. Recalls that there are cases of public institutions or state enterprises responsible for action infringing the environmental legislation which could constitute criminal offence; Calls on the Member States to effectively apply the provision on criminal prosecution of the respective private persons acting in the name of a legal entity;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 q (new)
Paragraph 11 q (new)
11 q. Believes, in relation to confiscation and freezing measures, that a provision cross-referencing the Confiscation Directive could be included in order to reinforce the importance of confiscation and freezing measures within the context of environmental crime;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 r (new)
Paragraph 11 r (new)
11 r. Calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of extending the mandate of the EPPO in the future to cover the criminal offences established by the ECD;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to assess whether it would be appropriate to introduce parental and chain liability for damage caused to human health and the environment20 ; _________________ 20 of Justice of 10 September 2009, Akzo Nobel NV and Others v CommissUnderlines the need to recognise the parental and chain liability of companies for the actions or omissions of their subsidiaries resulting in damage caused to human health and the environment, and the need for the implementation of a comprehensive monitoring system to provide competent authorities with an effective toolbox to monitor and enforce compliance with environmental and human rights requirements throughout their supply chains, particularly at local level, in line with/and in complement to the principle that EU undertakings have a duty of care and due diligence to prevent environmental harm caused by its subsidiaries active outside of the EU; underlines that such an enforcement system should allow NGOs, affected communities and victims to interact and proactively participate in the monitoring process, notably by submitting evidence and data on alleged violations of the European Communities, C-97/08 B, ECLI:EU:C:2009:536.environmental and human rights requirements; See, for instance, Judgment of the Court
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to assess whether it would be appropriate to introduceintroduce a secondary liability regime, that is parental and chain liability for damage caused to human health and the environment20 ; _________________ 20See, for instance, Judgment of the Court of Justice of 10 September 2009, Akzo Nobel NV and Others v Commission of the European Communities, C-97/08 B, ECLI:EU:C:2009:536.
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. believes that Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) and Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) could play a complementary role to environmental liability, as duly compliance with CSR and CER can reduce the likelihood of environmental harm; considers important in this sense that these commitments should be connected to mandatory obligations towards sustainable value creation, including the enforcing of non-financial reporting obligations;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Is of the opinion that the criminal sanctions should be extended to legal persons responsible for infringements committed by the offenders, e.g. to mother companies using the infringing company as a shield, to “partners in crime”, and to mother, daughter or sister companies indirectly taking profit from the infringement;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12 b. considers that a new legislation is urgently needed in order to establish clear, robust and enforceable cross- sectoral requirements on business enterprises to respect human rights, good governance and the environment and to carry out due diligence; stresses that such legislation should follow a cross- commodity approach, apply to all economic sectors in the supply chain, including the financial sector, both upstream and downstream, be accompanied by a robust reporting, disclosure and enforcement mechanism, including effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for non-compliance;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is of the opinion that the optional permit and Calls for the revised environmental liability regime to restrict the scope of application of the ‘permit defence’ and the ‘state- of- the art defences should only be maintained when a company can prove that it could not have known about the danger of its activity (reversed burden of proof)’ under the ELD, also through a reversal of the burden of proof upon moderators, in order to promote the ‘polluter pays’ principle while improving the effectiveness of same environmental liability regime;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to align the ELD with civil liability legislation for corporate boards in cases where a corporate board has taken irresponsible decisions causing environmental damage or when it was aware of, but did nothing to prevent, polluting activities carried out to maximise the profit of the company and increase the bonuses of its members21 ; _________________ 21E.g. the 'dieselgate' scandal and the case of the CEO of Volkswagen.ausal link can be established between a corporate board's action, omission or misconduct and the materialisation of an environmental damage as defined in the ELD, inter alia where this damage results from polluting activities carried out to maximise the profit of the company and increase the bonuses of its members; the revised regime should ensure that not only companies as legal entities, but also individuals who have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided the company with financial, material, or technological support, knowing that their participation would contribute to the materialization of the pure environmental damage, be held personally liable, both to humans and to nature itself;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. AsksCalls on the Commission to look into the possibility of introducinge a mandatory financial security system (covering insurance, bank guarantees, company pools and bonds or funds) with a maximum threshold per case, aiming to prevent taxpayers from having to bear the costs resulting from remediation of environmental damage; asks the Commission, in addition, to develop a harmonised EU methodology for calculating the maximum liability threshold, taking into account the activity and the impact on the environment; calls on the Commission to specify that the cost of remedying environmental damage should always be borne by the relevant operator, even if insolvent;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. AsksCalls on the Commission to look into the possibility of introducinge a mandatory financial security system (covering insurance, bank guarantees, company pools and bonds or funds) with a maximum threshold per case, aiming to prevent taxpayers from having to bear the costs resulting from remediation of environmental damage; asks the Commission, in addition, to develop a harmonised EU methodology for calculating the maximum liability threshold, taking into account the activity and the impact on the environmenthighlights that insurance cannot be designed to limit liability, but only to address costs of clean-up;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Calls on the Commission to establish a compulsory full coverage environmental liability insurance policy to cover all operators in the EU as a prerequisite for environmental permissions to solve the existing financial security problem of the companies, and to obligate each Member State to take all measures necessary to ensure environmental liability of all operators in its territory;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Calls on the Commission to include in its legislative proposal revising the ELD regime a fund for ELD liabilities at EU or national level; also calls on the Commission to study the possibility of using this fund as a basis for a renewed regime for socio-environmental protection;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Recalls that the Union should not merely promote a high level of environmental protection on its own territory, but should also take all possible action to prevent environmental damage anywhere in the world caused by companies based in Member States; recalls that environmental damage is particularly frequent and serious in developing countries due to factors such as less stringent legislative frameworks for environmental protection or the industrial and extractive activity of multinational corporations in those countries; Also calls on the Commission to study, in light of the transboundary harm principle, the possible legal avenues to ensure that EU transnational corporations be held liable for their environmentally harmful activities conducted in third States, even when those activities are not linked to products or services marketed in the EU territory; calls on the EU and its Member States, in any event, to provide for access to justice by allowing victims to take the parent company to Court in the EU, notably in a context where many host state legal systems are inadequate; Calls for the extension of criminal and civil liability for companies that have a clear link to an EU Member State and that have caused or contributed or are linked to environmental harm in third countries wherever they failed to act with due diligence and took all reasonable measures to prevent the damage;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Reiterates that according to the ELD, persons adversely affected by environmental damage should be entitled to ask the competent authorities to take action; believes in this regard that a compensatory collective redress mechanism should be available to any individual or organisation that has suffered due to environmental damage or impairment of right within the scope of the ELD;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Welcomes the Commission legislative proposal amending the Aarhus Regulation1367/2006 (COM(2020) 642 final) to allow for better public scrutiny of EU acts affecting the environment; taking into account that the European law stipulates that European citizens should be guaranteed effective and timely access to justice(Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Regulation, Article 6 TEU and relevant provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights) and that the costs of the environmental harm should be borne by the polluter (Article 191TFEU), calls on the Council in its capacity as a co-legislator for the effective implementation of the third pillar of the Aarhus Convention to guarantee access to courts for natural persons and NGOs for representative action to directly file a lawsuit against an operator potentially liable for environmental harm;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Believes that, in case of transnational and global damages, applicants and victims should have the choice to base their claims either on the law of the State where the harm occurred or the law of the country where the event giving rise to the damage occurred; in addition to both options, applicants and victims should have the choice to apply the law of the country where the lawsuit has been brought (lex fori); finally stresses that in case of diffuse and cumulative damages, these options should also be accessible to the plaintiffs; therefore calls on the Commission to assess the possibility of a revision of the Rome II Regulation accordingly;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16 c. Calls on the Commission to consider the elaboration of a Corporate Environmental Liability Directive able to address the peculiarities of environmental liability of large companies under private law; this corporate environmental liability directive would address large dangerous activities as addressed by the EIA Directive, large marketing of dangerous products, as well as large commanders of value chains; it could establish a strict liability regime for any damages to environment and human health, recognise presumption rules on causality and joint and several or pro rata liability, and address parental and chain responsibility; with inspiration from the German Environmental Liability Law for dangerous installations;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 d (new)
Paragraph 16 d (new)
16 d. Calls on the Commission to incorporate the principles and objectives underpinning EU environmental policy and human rights safeguards into the environmental chapters of all EU trade agreements; in that regard calls the commission to ensure that environmental provisions are enforceable and subject to a general dispute settlement mechanism;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is of the opinion that in cases of extremely widespread pollution, not just environmental liability instruments, but a multitude of instruments, including administrative measures, financial penalties and in some cases criminal prosecution, should be applied to remedy the problem; notes that criminal penalties alone are often ineffective as they may lead to large dismissals of environmental cases especially in Member States where there is no criminal liability of the corporate entity; also notes that in many Member States administrative financial penalties are increasingly used; calls therefore on the Commission to facilitate, and on Member States to use, administrative fines as a complementary tool alongside criminal sanctions;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is of the opinion that in cases of extremely widespread pollutionserious diffuse pollution and of large- scale incidents, not just environmental liability instruments, but a multitude of instruments, including administrative measures, financial penalties and in some cases criminal prosecution, should be applied to remedy the problem;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Considers in particular that in cases of serious diffuse pollution and of large-scale incidents, the strict liability of the responsible company should be established and result in sanctions which may include temporary or definitive closure of the responsible company or its premises, and may entail the directors’ and board members’ personal liability;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Calls for the scope of the ECD to be reviewed to ensure that it covers all relevant environmental legislation taking into account new types and patterns of environmental crime, including illegal logging and timber trade, illegal fishing, human-made fires and carbon credit fraud and all activities that contribute to cover-up environmental crimes;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Calls for minimum rules under the ECD with regard to the definition of sanctions and on the Commission to issue guidance on what constitutes effective, dissuasive and proportionate sanctions and a uniform application of sanctions in the EU and minimum standards for national authorities on the frequency and quality of checks on operators; the ECD should include requirements for Member States on data collection, publication and reporting, while using synergies with existing reporting obligations for Member States under the EU sectoral legislation listed in the annexes to the Directive;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Deplores the lack of effective implementation and enforcement of EU acts that aim to establish the criminal liability of legal persons for environmental offences and remediate environmental damages resulting therefrom; Recalls that there are cases of public institutions or state enterprises responsible for action infringing the environmental legislation which could constitute criminal offence; Calls on the Member States to effectively apply the provision on criminal prosecution of the respective private persons acting in the name of a legal entity;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17 c. Notes that the ECD merely states on the issue of liability of legal persons that Member States shall ensure that legal persons can be held liable for environmental crimes and that this liability shall not exclude criminal proceedings against natural persons who are perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the offences; Notes that the correct implementation thus does not require a criminal proceeding against an act established as criminal offence; Calls for the ECD to be amended to ensure that legal persons, or natural persons who are perpetrators, inciters or accessories in the offences be held liable and be heard in a criminal proceeding;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17 c. Calls for further clarification and guidance on the interpretation of some legal terms of the ECD, such as “substantial damage”, “non-negligible quantity”, “negligible quantity” and “negligible impact”, “dangerous activity” and “significant deterioration” to ensure consistent application in individual Member States and facilitate cross-border cooperation;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)
Paragraph 17 d (new)
17 d. Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of a legislative proposal for the crime of ecocide and calls on the EU and Member States to work in order to extend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to the ecocide as well; this extension would make it possible to recognize that large- scale environmental crimes are comparable to voluntary violations of human rights or to outright warlike actions;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)
Paragraph 17 d (new)
17 d. Recognises the direct and indirect interrelationship between environmental offences and transnational organised crime and corruption; calls on Europol to update the study commissioned in 2015 and to regularly provide situational updates;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 e (new)
Paragraph 17 e (new)
17 e. Calls on the Commission and Member States to raise awareness, promote and actively engage in international fora in order to more effectively combat environmental crimes, including through the protection of human environmental rights defenders and the recognition of ecocide in international law;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 e (new)
Paragraph 17 e (new)
17 e. calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of establishing a European Environmental Criminal Court with powers similar to those of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which enforces the 'polluter pays' principle, including compensation for victims;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 f (new)
Paragraph 17 f (new)
17 f. Urges the Union and its Member States to make the fight against environmental crime a strategic political priority in international judicial cooperation and for institutions and Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, notably by promoting compliance with multilateral environmental agreements through the adoption of criminal sanctions, exchange of best practices and by promoting the enlargement of the scope of the International Criminal Court to cover criminal acts that would amount to ecocide;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Commission to come forward with a proposal for environmental inspections at the EU level without further delay, as proposed by the Environmental Compliance and Governance Forum in action nine of its work programme, but is of the opinion that a recommendation to establish minimum criteria for environmental inspections is not enough; therefore considers that this recommendation should be changed into a binding document;
Amendment 163 #
18 a. Considers that an EU ombudsman for the environment should be established, entitled to start pre-litigation conciliation procedures, to request independent investigations and initiate legal actions with regard to environmental damages and offences; further stresses that the EU ombudsman should work in close collaboration the future EU-based environmental agency with regard to the deployment of monitoring, inspection and enforcement powers in environmental matters;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18 b. Calls on the Commission, Europol and Eurojust to provide support and a more institutionalised structure for existing networks of practitioners such as the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE) and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE) with the participation of ELD Government Experts Group and all stakeholders; calls in particular for a strengthened action of the Europol Environmental Crime Network (EnviCrimeNet) and to reinforce investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18 c. Calls on the Commission to address environmental crimes in the relevant EU legislation including in the forthcoming mandatory due diligence legislation into global supply chains;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 d (new)
Paragraph 18 d (new)
18 d. Believes that there is a strong need for a mandatory, harmonised liability framework to be updated at Union level to contribute to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate objectives, ensuring a level playing field for all business; In that regard believes that companies should conduct mandatory environment impact assessments that have full respect for human rights, environmental obligations and the protection of biodiversity throughout their supply chains and in full respect of existing international standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Multinational Enterprise and Social Policy, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, the UN Global Compact and the UN Convention against corruption;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 e (new)
Paragraph 18 e (new)
18 e. Stresses the importance of independent auditors to ensure that businesses behave in an environmentally sustainable way; calls on the Commission and the Member States to encourage European companies to regularly conduct independent environmental audits; suggests that Recommendation 2001/331 which provides in detail how environmental inspections should be conducted should be transposed into a binding document or regulation;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 f (new)
Paragraph 18 f (new)
18 f. Considers that companies convicted for environmental crimes should not been allowed to benefit from any of the measures foreseen for registrants into the transparency register; suggests, to this end, to revise the scope and the code of conduct of the transparency register in order to include provisions on the removal of companies convicted for environmental crimes;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 g (new)
Paragraph 18 g (new)
18 g. Stresses that ensuring the environmental liability of companies is key in making corporate governance more sustainable; considers in this regard that the upcoming EU legislation on company directors’ duties should compel companies into defining a business sustainability strategy that is aligned with planetary boundaries, in particular by requiring decarbonisation by 2050 and by preventing corporate contribution to biodiversity loss; also calls for a liability for direct and indirect environmental damages;