Recital 33

(33) To the extent that conduct constituting an environmental criminal offence as defined in this Directive is attributable to legal persons, such legal persons should be held liable for such an offence. In order to achieve the objectives of this Directive, Member States whose law provides for the criminal liability of legal persons should ensure that their law provides for effective, dissuasive and proportionate types and levels of criminal penalties as laid down in this Directive. In order to achieve the objectives of this Directive, Member States whose law does not provide for the criminal liability of legal persons should ensure that their law provides for effective, dissuasive and proportionate types and levels of non-criminal penalties as laid down in this Directive. The maximum levels of fines provided for in this Directive for the criminal offences defined in it should apply at least to the most serious forms of such offences. The gravity of the conduct, as well as the individual, financial and other circumstances of the legal persons concerned, should be taken into account to ensure that the penalty imposed is effective, dissuasive and proportionate. Member States should be able to set the maximum levels of fines either as a percentage of the total worldwide turnover of the legal person concerned, or in fixed amounts. Member States should decide which of those two options they will use, when transposing this Directive.

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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.