A provisional agreement has been reached between the
European Parliament and the Council on the protection of the
environment through criminal law1.
This agreement relates to a proposal for a Directive,
the aim of which is to improve the effective enforcement of
criminal law and to combat the most serious environmental offenses
which can have devastating effects on both the environment and
human health.
Environmental crime is one of the world's most profitable
organized criminal activities and has a major impact not only on
the environment but also on human health2.
This form of crime can cover a wide variety of actions/conducts:
the improper collection, transport, recovery or disposal of waste,
the illegal emission or discharge of substances into the
atmosphere, water or soil, or the killing, destruction, possession
of or trade in protected wild animal or plant species.
