Page 74 - AEI Insights 2020 - Vol. 6, Issue 1

AEI Insights, Vol 6, Issue 1, 2020

• fraud
• tax evasion
• money laundering
• control of legitimate companies in the waste management sector
• examining the link between criminal activities and illegal trade of e-waste is
problematic given the remaining not specified grey areas of extension
• waste trafficking is facilitated by the corruption of public officials in charge of permits,
also associated with law enforcement and customs as well as politicians, who can easily
avoid bureaucratic hurdles related to permit granting procedure
• increase in the volume of illegal trade between the European Union and the most
affected destination countries in Africa and Asia
• distortion of market and fair competition rules → firms that offer safe disposal of waste
cannot compete with criminals therefore they are forced to lower their prices and the
quality of their services in order to stay competitive.

EU level

• EU has a competence to harmonize the environmental criminal law as a part of its
environmental obligation
• missing link between organized crime more broadly – including the absence of an
express link between environmental criminal law and anti – money laundering law, in
addition lack of clarity in the relationship between criminal and non-criminal
(administrative) law in the field of environment
• no specific EU – level sanctions to address environmental crimes - sanctions depend on
the Member States and their appropriate toolbox of instruments – criminal,
administrative and civil law – complementary sanctions can be applied but not in ever
MSs
• voluntary associations of professionals working on environmental crimes with the
purpose of sharing information and best practices
• a significant amount of environmental crimes cannot be investigated by law
enforcement institutions due to the limited awareness, complexity of establishing
causality of environmental crime and the lack of financial resources
• Member States are not obligated to report on ongoing investigation or enforcement
process to EUROPOL and EUROJUST, therefore opportunities missed for the cross-
border cooperation
• creation of environmental democracy by engaging directly or indirectly in
environmental justice
• in order to reach vulnerable parts of society, the role of local communities, NGOs and
civil societies is crucial
• Aarhus Convention establishes rules on access to justice and environmental matters for
individuals and environmental NGOs
9
• public participation in environmental decision making is prevented, because rights of
individuals and communities are not well understood
• victim`s lack of awareness about their rights
• certain crimes are not provable only after a longer period of time

9 European Commission: The Aarhus Convention;
https://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/index.htm (accessed on 15.10.2019)

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