The objective of the project was to improve the performance of the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection as well as relevant ministries and bodies engaged in environmental inspections and the detection and prosecution of misdemeanour and criminal offences against the environment aimed at efficient implementation of the Environmental Protection Act and Directive 2008/99/EC on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law. The Directive calls for cooperation between bodies in charge of environmental protection and judicial bodies, police, customs and other stakeholders in order to ensure efficient sanctioning of misdemeanour and criminal offences against the environment.
The project budget was 1,100,000 EUR and it was financed by the European Commission under the IPA 2008 Programme and co-financed by the Republic of Croatia. The project was implemented by the Croatian Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection and the Austrian Environment Agency.
The main project results are:
- to facilitate cooperation between environmental protection inspectors in the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection and other relevant stakeholders and to ensure coordinated enforcement in cases of misdemeanour and criminal offences against the environment;A set of eight Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- A Manual for coordinated enforcement of the Environmental Protection Act.
