On 15 March 2022, the PETI and JURI Committees jointly organise a public hearing on ‘the EU Green Prosecutor - a common toolbox for fighting environmental crime’. PETI Committee receives multiple petitions on man-made environmental issues which often point at the lack of efficiency and capacity of national authorities for detecting, investigation and prosecution of environmental crime.

Furthermore, criminal organisations and mafias threaten the conservation of biodiversity and environmental heritage. At the same time, their activity affects the health and safety of EU citizens, who become victims of arsons, landslides, illnesses related to air pollution, etc.


As revealed in petitions received, environmental crime jeopardises the EU Green Deal objectives, both in terms of negative environmental effects, and in terms of financial losses. It is associated with money laundering, corruption, forgery, trafficking, physical violence and murder, extending the effects far beyond the damage to the habitat.
The hearing will explore the shortcomings and challenges in the enforcement of EU environmental criminal law on the basis of petitions received, as well as new tools to tackle environmental crime, including the possible creation of a European Green Prosecutor Office.

• Link to the event's page