Directive (EU) 2024/1203 on environmental criminal law was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on April 30, 2024. This directive establishes minimum standards at the EU level for defining environmental crimes and their sanctions, repealing Directives 2008/99/EC and 2009/123/EC.
The directive introduces new environmental crimes and applies only to offenses committed within the EU, although Member States may extend their jurisdiction to offenses committed outside their territory. The new environmental crimes include timber trafficking, illegal recycling of polluting components of ships, and serious violations of chemical substances legislation.
Furthermore, the directive introduces a provision on “qualified offenses,” which applies when one of the offenses listed intentionally causes the destruction of the environment or irreversible or lasting damage to it. For companies, the pecuniary sanctions will be equal to 5% of the total global turnover for the most serious offenses, or €40 million, whichever is higher, while for other offenses, they will be 3% of turnover or €24 million.
Member States will have two years from the publication of the directive to adjust their national laws to the new provisions, by May 21, 2026.
Source: DirittoBancario
