Professor Macrory speaks on new EU Environmental Crime Directive at major policy conference

On 21 May, Emeritus Professor Richard Macrory delivered the keynote opening address at the prestigious 4 Networks Conference, held at Bratislava Castle, Slovakia.

This year's conference, titled Making the New Environmental Crime Directive Work: Cooperation/Prevention/Enforcement, brought together key European networks concerned with the enforcement of environmental law — the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment, European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE), European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL), and police agencies (EnviCrimeNet). Senior officials from the European Commission were also present, highlighting the importance of EU policy collaboration and international cooperation on environmental crime.

The focus of the conference was the 2024 EU Environmental Crime Directive, a major development in EU environmental policy, which must be implemented within Member States by May 2026. The Directive replaces the 2008 Crime Directive and is far more detailed than its predecessor. Core provisions, for example, specify maximum penalties (both prison sentences and fines) that must be transposed into national laws, require Member States to develop national strategies for combating environmental crime, and ensure that enforcement bodies are adequately financed.

Professor Macrory, a leading figure in environmental law, provided a personal perspective on some of the key challenges ahead with the Directive, particularly regarding those aspects that allow for considerable discretion. These challenges include definitions of crimes, options for sanctioning, sentencing practices by courts, statistical data on environmental prosecutions, and prosecutorial discretion. The core provisions of the Directive focus on criminal enforcement, but Professor Macrory also welcomed references within the Directive that advocate for a coherent and integrated system incorporating administrative, civil, and criminal law.

During the meeting, three network bodies (IMPEL, EnviCrimeNet, and ENPE) signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation in the fight against environmental crimes.

Find out more

• Read the full memorandum on the IMPEL website.
• Professor Richard Macrory's Profile 
• 2024 EU Environmental Directive