The European Parliament has become the first international body to criminalise large-scale ecosystem destruction, introducing sentences of up to 10 years for CEOs, following a vote on Tuesday.

Among the lawmakers, 499 voted in favour, 100 against, and 23 abstained, on an updated version of the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD) after months of negotiation between the Council of the EU, the European Commission, and Parliament.

The text extends the list of environmental crimes in the EU to include illegal timber trade, depletion of water resources, breaches of the bloc’s chemicals legislation, and pollution caused by ships, while also setting stricter sentences for the most serious cases of environmental damage.

“It is about time we fought cross-border crimes at the EU level with harmonised and dissuasive sanctions to prevent new environmental crimes. Under this agreement, polluters will pay,” European Parliament rapporteur Antonius Manders said after the plenary vote.

“What is more, it is a major step in the right direction that any person in a leading position at a company responsible for polluting can be held liable as well the business itself.”

During a press conference, Manders explained that the new bill is not “meant to build more prisons, rather that we introduce prevention and the precautionary principle”.

In the trilogue phase last year, the Parliament also convinced the Council of member states to adopt a ‘dynamic approach’, so “judges do have the power, according to the facts, to take CEOs [or anyone responsible] to court and send them to jail” for up “to 10 years maximum, if the behaviour of the company is causing deaths”. The possible sentencing “will lead to more prevention and less pollution,” said Manders.

For executives to be criminalised under the law their actions would have to be “intentional” by choosing not to limit their company’s pollution levels, Manders said.

“LONG-TERM DAMAGE”

While the text does not specifically mention “ecocide”, the preamble points that it seeks to criminalise cases “comparable” to it, defined in the directive as:

”Unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe, and either widespread, or long-term, damage, to the environment being caused by those acts.”

These acts include forest fires as well as widespread air, water, and soil pollution, which could be punished with up to eight years sentencing, the European Parliament said in a statement.

Individuals, including company representatives, responsible for environmental offences leading to death could face up to 10 years in prison, while other criminal offences could lead to a five-year sentence.

Under the directive, offenders could also pay fines and be required to restore damaged environments, or compensate for damages caused.

“For companies, the fines will reach 3% or 5% of their yearly worldwide turnover, or alternatively €24 million or €40 mln, depending on the nature of the crime,” the European Parliament said.

However, Greens’ MEP Marie Toussaint noted, “it is a pity that the Council succeeded in introducing a fixed amount for companies, instead of a proportional amount based on turnover”.

“This change will lead to absurd situations that take no account of a company’s financial situation,” she said.

Additional sanctions include licence withdrawal, bans on public funding, or closure.

The directive also calls on EU governments to hold specialised training for police, judges, and prosecutors, and organise awareness-raising campaigns to fight environmental crime.

EARLY MOVE

Although the updated directive is regarded as an unprecedented step towards tackling ecosystem destruction in Europe, the text doesn’t cover a number of topics – such as fishing, the export of toxic waste to developing countries, and carbon market fraud.

Crimes committed outside the bloc’s borders on behalf of EU companies are also excluded, though member states can decide whether to prosecute them.

Following the EU Parliament vote, countries will now have two years to put the directive into national law, with Belgium already leading the way.

The Belgian Federal Parliament voted on Thursday to include ecocide in the penal code, becoming the first EU nation to align its domestic law with the newly revised EU Environmental Crimes Directive.

Under the new bill, large-scale and irreversible crimes against nature will be punished with up to 20 years in prison and a fine of €1.6 mln.

The law will apply only to the Federal Government’s jurisdiction, such as nuclear waste management and the North Sea region, until the process extends to the country’s regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels, responsible for most of the environmental legislation.

By Sergio Colombo and Emanuela Barbiroglio – news@carbon-pulse.com

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