November 21, 2014 — The illegal exportation of waste throughout the European Union, the trafficking of endangered species, and surface-water pollution were all recognized in a repot today by Eurojust, the European Union agency set up to deal with cross-border crime, as areas where reporting is low and conviction is even lower. Additionally, in the cases of illegal trafficking of endangered species and waste, the crimes are often linked to organized crime groups.

“Eurojust launched the Strategic Project in spring 2013 on the basis of an intriguing paradox: there was growing evidence of an increasing understanding that environmental crime is a serious crime, often involving a cross-border dimension and organised crime groups (OCGs), while at the same time, statistics on prosecutions of environmental crime in the Member States did not appear to reflect the real impact of this crime,” the authors write. “The number of cases referred to Eurojust, at that time, was also very low.”

Eurojust points to a number of reasons why this is the case, including a lack of communication and coordination between EU member states; lax, if any, specific legal action for environmental crime; and the technical and often complex nature of environmental issues. Still, the agency was able to point to a number of best practices and possible solutions, including better cooperation between partners, member states working more closely with Eurojust, more consistency in definitions of environmental crimes across countries, freezing and confiscating assets related to these crimes, and more.

“Environmental crime is threatening human life, health, and natural resources,” Věra Jourová, the EU’s commissioner for justice, consumers and gender equality, said in a press release. “These crimes affect the whole of society. They must therefore be targeted with the same seriousness as other criminal offenses.” View Ensia homepage

Photo by David J (Flickr | Creative Commons)