Recital 73

(73) Since the objectives of this Directive, namely to provide common definitions of environmental criminal offences and the availability of effective, dissuasive and proportionate criminal penalties for serious offences, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason, inter alia, of the cross-border damage which can be caused to the environment by the unlawful conduct concerned and by reason of scale and effects of the response needed, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 TEU. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives.

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Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-09-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.