Environmental crime: EU accession to Council of Europe convention  

With 20 votes in favour, 2 against and no abstention, MEPs on the Legal Affairs Committee have voted in favour of the EU acceding to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law.

The aim of the convention is to prevent and combat environmental crime more effectively and to promote and enhance national and international cooperation to this end. It concerns the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution and sanctioning of environment-related criminal offences such as pollution, offences relating to chemical and radioactive substances, the unlawful abstraction of water, and unlawful mining, for instance.

The EU’s accession to the convention follows its adoption of the Environmental Crime Directive in April 2024, which is now applicable across the EU. The directive established common minimum rules on the definition of criminal offences and penalties to protect the environment. The European Commission represented the EU in the negotiations on the Council of Europe convention to ensure its full compatibility with the EU legislation. The convention is thus expected to promote key concepts from the EU approach to environmental crime globally among other Council of Europe members and key international partners.

Next steps

Following a vote in plenary, the EU’s accession to the convention will be approved by EU governments.

Background

Environmental crime is the fourth largest criminal activity in the world after drugs trafficking, human trafficking and counterfeiting. It is growing at annual rates of between 5 and 7% and causes significant damage to the environment, to human health and to economies.