Press Release: Commission will support Member States in the fight against environmental crime

On 13 March 2001 the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive introducing for the first time legal sanctions for breaches of environmental law at an EU level. The proposal addresses the most serious breaches of Community environmental law and covers three aspects intended to ensure effective legal sanctions: (a) Member States themselves will decide the criminal penalties for breaches of environmental rules, under their own systems of criminal law; (b) the Commission's proposal only concerns intentional damage to the environment or damage caused by serious negligence (this means not all pollution would be considered a criminal offence); (c) the Directive will cover offences which are already expressly prohibited by existing EU environmental law.