Activities of Loránt VINCZE related to 2021/0422(COD)
Shadow opinions (2)
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
OPINION on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law
Amendments (31)
Amendment 51 #
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 pose a threat to the environment and therefore call for an appropriate and effective response. The improvement of cross-border cooperation that works in a more systematic manner between competent national and European authorities would help to better implement European environmental criminal law.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) Furthermore, judicial and administrative authorities in the Member States should have at their disposal a range of criminal sanctions and other measures to address different types of criminal behaviour in a tailored and effective manner. The approximation of sanction levels across the EU should promote more effective fight against environmental crimes.
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Other persons may also possess valuable information concerning potential environmental criminal offences. They may be members of the community affected or members of society at large taking an active part in protecting the environment. Such persons who report environmental crimes as well as persons who cooperate with the enforcement of such offences should be provided the necessary support and assistance in the context of criminal proceedings, so that they are not disadvantaged for their cooperation but supported and assisted. Reporting of potential environmental criminal offences with cross-border effect should be facilitated via an online platform. These persons should also be protected from being harassed or unduly prosecuted for reporting such offences or their cooperation in the criminal proceedings.
Amendment 138 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) To ensure an effective, integrated and coherent enforcement system that includes administrative, civil and criminal law measures, Member States should organise internal cooperation and communication between all actors along the administrative and criminal enforcement chains and between punitive and remedial sanctioning actors. Following the applicable rules, Member States should also cooperate through EU agencies, in particular Eurojust and Europol, as well as with EU bodies, including the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), in their respective areas of competence. The cooperation and coordination at EU level, involving mainly Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) should be strengthened to support investigations and prosecutions. In this regard, the Commission should assess the possibility of extending the jurisdiction of the European Public Prosecutor's Office to environmental crimes.
Amendment 149 #
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 pose a threat to the environment and therefore call for an appropriate and effective response. The improvement of cross-border cooperation that works in a more systematic manner between competent national and European authorities would help to better implement European environmental criminal law.
Amendment 152 #
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 and keep up-to-date 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 and competent EU bodies and agencies relevant statistical data on environmental offences. The Commission should regularly assess and publish the results based on the data transmitted by the Member States.
Amendment 188 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) Furthermore, judicial and administrative authorities in the Member States should have at their disposal a range of criminal sanctions and other measures to address different types of criminal behaviour in a tailored and effective manner. The approximation of sanction levels across the EU should promote more effective fight against environmental crimes.
Amendment 197 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Other persons may also possess valuable information concerning potential environmental criminal offences. They may be members of the community affected or members of society at large taking an active part in protecting the environment. Such persons who report environmental crimes as well as persons who cooperate with the enforcement of such offences should be provided the necessary support and assistance in the context of criminal proceedings, so that they are not disadvantaged for their cooperation but supported and assisted. Reporting of potential environmental criminal offences with cross-border effect should be facilitated via an online platform. These persons should also be protected from being harassed or unduly prosecuted for reporting such offences or their cooperation in the criminal proceedings.
Amendment 205 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n a (new)
(n a) any conduct leading to wildfire, which causes or likely to cause death or serious injury to any person or substantial damage to the environment;
Amendment 207 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) To ensure an effective, integrated and coherent enforcement system that includes administrative, civil and criminal law measures, Member States should organise internal cooperation and communication between all actors along the administrative and criminal enforcement chains and between punitive and remedial sanctioning actors. Following the applicable rules, Member States should also cooperate through EU agencies, in particular Eurojust and Europol, as well as with EU bodies, including the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), in their respective areas of competence. The cooperation and coordination at EU level, involving mainly Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) should be strengthened to support investigations and prosecutions. In this regard, the Commission should assess the possibility of extending the jurisdiction of the European Public Prosecutor's Office to environmental crimes.
Amendment 209 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n b (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n b (new)
(n b) illegal harvest and transportation of timber;
Amendment 211 #
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 and keep up-to-date 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 and competent EU bodies and agencies relevant statistical data on environmental offences. The Commission should regularly assess and publish the results based on the data transmitted by the Member States.
Amendment 256 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point a
(a) obligation to reinstate the environmentor finance the remediation of the environment in accordance with the polluter pays principle and within a given time period;
Amendment 259 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n a (new)
(n a) any conduct leading to wildfire, which causes or likely to cause death or serious injury to any person or substantial damage to the environment;
Amendment 262 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point g a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point g a (new)
(g a) additional sanctions or measures in point c) - f), when appropriate, shall be introduced with an EU-wide effect.
Amendment 262 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n b (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point n b (new)
(n b) illegal harvest and transportation of timber.
Amendment 272 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k
(k) publication of the judicial decision relating to the conviction or any sanctions or measures applied and EU-wide publication of the judicial decision with cross-border relevance.
Amendment 293 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 5 – point d a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 5 – point d a (new)
(d a) the polluter pays principle
Amendment 310 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point a
(a) obligation to reinstate the environmentor finance the remediation of the environment in accordance with the polluter pays principle and within a given time period;
Amendment 320 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point g a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 5 – point g a (new)
(g a) additional sanctions or measures in point c) - f), when appropriate, shall be introduced with an EU-wide effect.
Amendment 334 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. The Commission with the cooperation of Europol and the Member States shall establish an EU-wide green line for easy and secure reporting of criminal offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of this Directive available in all official EU languages.
Amendment 337 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – title
Article 14 – title
Rights for the public concerned to access information and participate in proceedings
Amendment 342 #
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 access information and participate in proceedings concerning offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4, for instance as a civil party.
Amendment 343 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point k
(k) publication of the judicial decision relating to the conviction or any sanctions or measures applied and EU-wide publication of the judicial decision with cross-border relevance.
Amendment 352 #
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 to provide at regular intervals specialised training and exchange of best practices at EU level with respect to the objectives of this Directive and appropriate to the functions of the involved staff and authorities.
Amendment 359 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 19 a (new)
Article 19 a (new)
Article 19 a Cooperation at European level Member States, the Commission and the EU agencies, bodies and offices (Eurojust, Europol, European Public Prosecutor's Office, OLAF) shall, within their respective mandates and competences, establish and maintain close cooperation with each other in the prevention and the fight against environmental criminal offences.
Amendment 422 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. The Commission with the cooperation of Europol and the Member States shall establish an EU-wide green line for easy and secure reporting of criminal offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of this Directive available in all official EU languages.
Amendment 424 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – title
Article 14 – title
Rights for the public concerned to access information and participate in proceedings
Amendment 427 #
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 access information and participate in proceedings concerning offences referred to in Articles 3 and 4, for instance as a civil party.
Amendment 437 #
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 to provide at regular intervals specialised training and exchange of best practices at EU level with respect to the objectives of this Directive and appropriate to the functions of the involved staff and authorities.
Amendment 451 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 19 a (new)
Article 19 a (new)
Article 19 a Cooperation at European level Member States, the Commission and the EU agencies, bodies and offices (Eurojust, Europol, EuropeanPublic Prosecutor's Office, OLAF) shall, within their respective mandates and competences, establish and maintain close cooperation with each other in the prevention and the fight against environmental criminal offences.