2021-06-02
On May 21, more than 180 agents from different fields (judicial, inspection, police and prosecutor) came together to strengthen international cooperation in the field of environmental legislation, its enforcement and improvement of cooperation mechanisms throughout the whole enforcement chain.
The objective of this event was to bring together all relevant parties in order to work closely and join forces in the fight against environmental crime.
This conference follows two previous editions held in Utrecht in 2016 and in Oxford, in 2017, with a new virtual edition in which IMPEL, EnviCrimeNet, ENPE and EUFJE networks organized the event together with well-known experts in the field.
The 4 Networks Day had two keytopics of reflection and debate. The revision of Directive 2008/99/EC on the criminal protection of the environment and the joint proposal on the definition of the environmental priority in the next period 2022-2025 in the framework of the EU EMPACT.
In this working structure, it is worth highlighting the institutional presence of Europol, whose Deputy Executive Director (Director of Operations), Mr. Jean Philippe Lecouffe, was in charge of opening the conference, as well as the presentation of Mr. P. Csonka, Deputy Director of the Directorate of Criminal Justice (DG-JUST) European Commission.
In addition, members of EnviCrimeNet, whose presidency is held by the Guardia Civil–SEPRONA (Spain), have contributed prominently to the event. On the one hand, SEPRONA Major Miguel Ángel Godoy explained the Network’s priorities and the main actions and results that are being generated through the LIFE+ SATEC Project as a contribution to improving the capacities of police officers in Europe and to European legislation through integrating the police investigation vision in the environmental regulations.
On the other hand, Fabio de Rosa, Lieutenant Colonel of the Carabinieri, also highlighted the options and challenges that must be posed within the next EMPACT Envicrime (2022-2025) to tackle serious and organized crime.
From these and other keynote speeches as well as from thematic sessions that took place in the different areas of biodiversity, waste management, plastic waste trafficking or environmental impact assessment in the field of wildlife, a set of conclusions and recommendations have been generated for the Institutions of the European Union for their consideration and inclusion as key elements for the design of effective policies in the fight against environmental crime.
The 4 Networks Day is a European Green Week Partner Event.