Commission proposals to crack down on polluters

POLLUTERS, including individuals and companies, could find themselves in jail or facing big fines for green crime under proposals from the European Commission today.

The new directive would cover existing offences that range from illegal dumping of waste to damaging protected flowers and plants.

It suggests jail sentences from one to 10 years for the more serious crimes such as those that caused death or where someone acted as part of a gang.

Companies and other institutions would also be subject to stiff fines of between €750,000 and €1.5m.

Each member state could decide themselves if company directors could be held personally liable for pollution as they are in Britain.

Worried that some countries are not taking their environmental responsibilities seriously enough by enforcing the law, the commission wants all member states to introduce minimum penalties. Many countries, including Ireland, already have stiff penalties for polluters but the proposal is expected to create a major row with member states seeing it as the European Commission interfering with national government’s criminal law.

The draft law lists offences such as emitting hazardous substances illegally emitted into the air, water or soil, illegally shipping waste or illegally trading in endangered species. “These can have devastating effects on human health and the environment. They can also undermine the efficiency of EU environmental legislation,” the commission said.

Even the definition of environmental crimes varies greatly from one member state to another. To remedy this they list offences that they say should be considered a criminal offence throughout the EU.

“The aim is to ensure that safe-havens for environmental crime will no longer exist within in the EU,” the commission said.

Member states would be free to choose what kind of criminal sanction should be used provided it was effective and proportional.

The commission said that the directive sets only a minimum standard of environmental protection through criminal law to be adopted by member states, but each country could introduce more stringent measures.

It tried in 2001 to introduce similar sanctions but member states took over the proposals and wanted to introduce them inter-governmentally, by-passing the European Parliament.

The commission challenged this action in the European Court where they won their case in September 2005 giving them power to introduce harmonised criminal laws on community issues throughout the EU.

“Environmental crime usually has cross-border implications, as it often involves trans-boundary activities and often has trans-boundary effects such as the resulting pollution of the environment,” it said.