The fight against environmental crime in the European Union and its member states: a perspective on the enforcement system

This article identifies, analyses and assesses the key enforcement efforts and challenges in the fight against environmental crime in the European Union and its Member States. The specific focus is on how the institutional and legal frameworks and the characteristics of the environmental matters impact upon compliance, prosecution and sanctioning, and in particular on whether the institutional and legal frameworks promote or impede responses to environmental crime. To this end, first, a critical overview is given of EU environmental acquis as well as of the state of play of the fight against environmental crime in the EU. Then, the impact of the features of the legal framework on enforcement is assessed. Enforcement efforts and challenges are examined in light of the characteristics of the criminal phenomenon that needs to be tackled and of the available legal tools; shortcomings and good practices are identified. The article concludes with critical considerations and recommendations on the way forward.