Co-hosted by Eurojust and the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the event brought together high-level experts in environmental law. The objective was to trace the evolution of the fight against environmental crime within the EU, as well as to consider future prospects in this area. The new French judicial organisation to advance prosecution for damage to the environment was also presented.
The event, organised within the framework of Eurojust’s 20th anniversary, was held in a hybrid format, with participants joining remotely and in person at the Agency’s premises.
The symposium, entitled 'Justice for the environment: from the emergence of environmental justice in Europe to the new French legal framework', was opened by the President of Eurojust, Mr Ladislav Hamran, together with Mr Baudoin Thouvenot, the Eurojust National Member for France.
During the first session, Ms Corinne Lepage, former French Minister of the Environment, former Member of the European Parliament and renowned environmental lawyer, analysed the evolution of environmental justice.
In the third session of the symposium, Mr Peter Csonka, Deputy Director for Criminal Justice in the Directorate General Justice of the European Commission, presented the Commission’s priorities in the fight against environmental criminality.
The role of Eurojust to facilitate effective international judicial cooperation in environmental cross-border crime was discussed during the third session. Ms Jelena Smirnova, Judicial Cooperation Advisor at Eurojust, and Mr Éric Figliolia, Deputy National Member for France at Eurojust and head of the Environmental Crime team, presented the Agency’s experiences and lessons learnt through the analysis of a real case.
Ms Delphine Agoguet, magistrate and member of the Inspectorate-General for Justice Services at the French Ministry of Justice, presented the lessons learnt in the reform of the French environmental law of 24 December 2020.
Mr Cyril Lacombe, magistrate and Chief of the Public prosecutor’s office at Poitiers Court, gave a presentation on the implementation of the regional centres specialised in fighting environmental crimes in France during the final session of the symposium.
Following the event, Ms Corinne Lepage said: 'The time has come for criminal law to come to the rescue of the environment. It is a crucial paradigm shift in view of the issue at stake.'
Mr Éric Figliolia said: 'Tackling organised international environmental crime requires that those responsible are prosecuted and brought to justice. Cross-border cooperation throughout the EU and beyond is of paramount importance to achieve this goal.'
Eurojust is an agency of the European Union