The EU Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has just voted in support (NB final text still pending publication) of including a crime of ecocide into the Directive on protection of the environment through criminal law, currently under revision.
Inclusion of ecocide is already backed by the Committees on Environment, Development and Petitions. The Legal Affairs (JURI) Committee will vote later this month, and the resulting text will go to the full EU Parliament (plenary) before final “trilogue” discussions (Parliament, Commission, Council of Ministers).
While last week’s excellent Council of Europe resolution does not oblige its 46 member states nor the 27-state EU to legislate for ecocide (the CoE is a non-legislating body) it will undoubtedly have a bearing on EU discussions.