Commission takes Council to Court over green crime 

In January 2003, the Council adopted a Framework Decision on the protection of the environment through criminal law based on the proposal tabled by the Danish Presidency. The Decision foresees that each Member State should introduce the notion of environmental crime into its national law, i.e certain conducts damaging the environment should be defined as criminal when committed intentionally or as a result of negligence. A similar measure had been proposed by the European Commission in 2001, but on another legal basis (article 175 of the Treaty). For more on this conflict between the institutions, seeEurActiv 31 January 2003.