Operational support to environmental crime cases

Although there was a 64% increase in the number of new environmental crime cases referred to Eurojust in 2023 compared to 2022, the overall number of cases handled by the Agency remains low.

Despite environmental crime being an EMPACT priority area in the previous and current policy cycle, the number of cross-border environmental crime cases initiated at the national level remains low. Moreover, depending on national legislation, prosecution strategies and the specifics of the case, criminal activities damaging the environment can be prosecuted as other crimes, such as fraud, corruption or money laundering. Although not conclusive, considering the need to improve national statistics on environmental crime investigations, these reasons may partially explain the overall low number of environmental cases referred to the Agency.

In view of the scale of the problem and the low number of cases the Agency deals with compared to other crime areas, national authorities are strongly encouraged to engage more actively in cross-border environmental crime investigations and prosecutions. The Council of the European Union has urged Member States to participate in the work carried out at the EU and international levels to enhance cooperation in tackling environmental crime, including via cooperation through Eurojust[3].

Within the EMPACT Environmental Crime Operational Action Plan 2023, Eurojust was a participant of the operational actions on waste, cooperation with Asia and training organised by the CEPOL. Eurojust also actively supported the operational actions on financial investigations and glass eel trafficking. In September 2023, the Agency hosted an operational meeting on the illegal trafficking in glass eels, marking the first ever EMPACT Environmental Crime meeting organised at the Agency.

Consultative Forum of Prosecutors General of EU Member States

At the meeting of the Consultative Forum of Prosecutors General and Directors of Public Prosecutions of the Member States of the EU, held at Eurojust in October 2023, environmental crime was a key item on the agenda. Participants discussed their national experiences in addressing environmental crime and the benefits of having specialised prosecutors and judges to deal with this specific crime area.

The scale and complexity of environmental crime requires specialisation and a multidisciplinary approach. This has driven several EU Member States to set up dedicated units to tackle environmental crime within their national prosecution services. For example, Sweden has set up the National Unit for Environment and Work Environment Cases within the Swedish National Public Prosecution Department, while in Spain, the Spanish Prosecutor's Office has a Supreme Court Prosecutor in charge of a specialised unit for the coordination of environmental crimes.

Participants concluded that cooperation and collaboration in environmental protection, particularly across borders, are essential given the growing sophistication of environmental criminals and their defence strategies. To prevent investigative and prosecutorial efforts from being hindered or undermined, it is of utmost importance that domestic laws in the Member States adequately implement international standards, and that progress is made towards a harmonised legislative framework, especially regarding the definition of crimes, sanctions and investigative tools.

Training and awareness raising

In 2023, Eurojust continued to contribute to training, awareness raising and networking activities tailor-made for prosecutors and the judiciary working in the environmental crime area. These activities were carried out in cooperation with CEPOL, EJTN, the EU-funded project LIFE SWiPE (‘Successful Wildlife Crime Prosecution in Europe’), the Academy of European Law and the French National School for the Judiciary.

Cooperation at EU level

During 2023, Eurojust continued to contribute to the activities of the EU Environmental Compliance and Governance Forum’s Working Group on Sanctioning, the EU Wildlife Trade Enforcement Group, and the European Task Force on Forestry Crime.

The Agency also continued its cooperation with the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE). In April 2023, Eurojust participated in the international conference ‘The sea, the world’s largest crime scene – the case of environmental crime’, organised jointly by the ENPE and La Rochelle University. Discussions focused on the legal and practical difficulties in detecting, investigating and prosecuting environmental crimes. Conference participants included experts from some EU Member States, Mauritius, Africa, South America, the United States and Ukraine. They concluded that effective prosecution, through national and international cooperation, is essential to prevent further damage by disincentivising the commission of these crimes.

EU-US Liaison meeting on environmental crime

Following the political commitment made in 2022 between the European Union and the United States to intensify cooperation in the fight against environmental crime, the second EU-US Liaison Meeting on Environmental Crime, involving Eurojust, took place in April 2023 in La Rochelle. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the areas of environmental crime where EU-US cooperation is most needed. These areas include marine and maritime pollution, waste crime, wildlife crime and illegal timber trade, among others. Participants discussed cooperation in these areas, including identifying and exchanging intelligence on possible EU-US linked cases, with a view to initiating EU-US cross-border criminal investigations and prosecutions, supported by Eurojust and Europol. Participants also discussed taking stock of the legal and practical challenges faced by EU and US competent national authorities in dealing with environmental crime and exchanging best practices to address them.

Environmental Crime Directive and other policy developments

In November 2023, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a proposed EU law that would improve the investigation and prosecution of environmental crime offences. The proposal for a new Environmental Crime Directive, replacing the previous 2008 Directive, aims to establish minimum rules on the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in order to better protect the environment. The proposed Directive adds new types of environmental criminal offences and also harmonises the level of penalties for natural persons and, for the first time, for legal persons in all EU Member States. These changes are expected to improve the investigation and prosecution of environmental crime offences and increase cross-border judicial cooperation in this area. To achieve this, the proposed Directive specifically promotes cooperation through Eurojust as well as other EU agencies.

Other relevant legislative developments that provide for effective enforcement including dissuasive sanctions, include the Regulation on Deforestation-free products, which entered into force in June 2023, and the proposal for a Directive on ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties, including criminal penalties, for pollution offences, issued by the European Commission in the same month.

Crackdown on a criminal network dealing with waste trafficking

Crime: An organised crime group (OCG) deals with illicit waste trafficking (including uncleaned, unrecycled scrap iron and manipulated hazardous waste, such as tar), false invoicing and money laundering in several European countries. The OCG illegally acquires up to 165,000 tonnes of scrap iron through a network of iron recycling companies operating in Italy and abroad. A German bogus company connected to the leader of the OCG issues false invoices for the fictitious acquisition of the scrap iron.

The leader and other members of the criminal network bring up to EUR 70 million in cash into Italy from German bank accounts. The money is transferred between fictitious companies and the profits are invested in the illicit trafficking of waste or laundered through legitimate activities such as the acquisition of a football team in Italy.

Action: Eurojust sets up a coordination centre on its premises to facilitate rapid cooperation between the Italian and German judicial authorities. In a joint action day on 15 February, 14 suspects are detained in Italy and Germany. Forty searches are carried out, 26 in Italy and 14 in Germany.

Result: The preventive seizure of assets worth EUR 90 million is ordered.

Eurojust's Role: Eurojust supports the authorities involved in setting up and funding a joint investigation team. The Agency also hosts seven coordination meetings to facilitate judicial cooperation and provide support to the coordinated investigative efforts.