The consolidation process of environmental criminal law of the European Union

Abstract

:  The transnational nature of environmental matters makes it necessary that environmental protection, to be effective, is not limited to the national level. In this sense, the work that EU has carried out in recent years has been essential to achieve a common and ambitious environmental policy. In recent decades, an intense legislative work has been done to adapt the EU legislation to the requirements of environmental protection, resorting to criminal law in response to the most severe environmental offences. This article analyses the process of creation and consolidation of the so-called Environmental Criminal Law of the European Union. With this aim, its first studies the guidelines of the Council of Europe, which have had a significant influence on the EU's policy on environmental matters. After that, the evolution of primary and secondary Community law and the most relevant case-law of the CJEU in this matter is examined. Finally, this paper highlights the impact of Directive 2008/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008, on the protection of the environment through criminal law, on the configuration of Environmental Criminal Law of the European Union.