“Criminalizing” environmental wrongdoings under European Union law: a proposal from the European Commission in the light of old and new challenges

Abstract

A recent proposal from the European Commission, aimed at replacing current directive 2008/99 on the protection of the environment through criminal law, reopens many questions about the criminalization of environmental abuses. The topic should be also included in the wider perspective of current discussion at the international level around the progressive establishment of an ecocide. In its proposal, the Commission switches from aims of solely environmental policy to judicial cooperation on criminal law, as reformed by the Lisbon Treaty, and in particular under a provision (art. 83 TFEU) aimed at enhancing Union’s autonomy in this field. Consequently, the same proposal has various implications under specific and more general aspects, including the need for certain interests pertaining to the Union as such to be adequately pursued both at the supranational and at the national levels.