THE CHALLENGE
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Environmental crime is among the most profitable forms of serious and organised criminality, and among the least prosecuted. Waste trafficking, illegal mining, pollution offences, chemical crime and wildlife trafficking cause damage that is diffuse, cumulative and frequently transboundary and that rarely fits the categories of ordinary criminal procedure.
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Directive (EU) 2024/1203 on the protection of the environment through criminal law, the Environmental Crime Directive (ECD), was designed to close that gap. It replaces Directives 2008/99/EC and 2009/123/EC, expands the catalogue of environmental offences from nine to twenty categories of criminal offences, introduces qualified offences for conduct causing destruction or widespread and substantial damage to ecosystems, and imposes new obligations on Member States regarding national strategies, statistical data, investigative tools, training and specialisation. Member States were required to transpose the Directive by 21 May 2026.
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However, the Directive’s central operative concepts “substantial damage”, “conduct likely to cause damage”, “non-negligible quantities” are not self-executing. They must be applied by inspectors at the roadside, by police officers building a case file, by prosecutors deciding whether to charge, and by judges assessing gravity. Without shared assessment criteria, comparable data and common tools, the same conduct will be treated as an administrative infringement in one Member State and as a qualified criminal offence in another. Deterrence, and the level playing field the Directive is meant to create, both suffer.
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HOW WE WORK
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Practitioner co-creation
Inspectors, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges work alongside legal, academic and technical experts to design, test and refine every output. This is not consultation after the fact: practitioners shape the tools before they are finalised.
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Two advisory bodies
A Practitioner Sounding Board brings together operational-level practitioners from across Member States, who review drafts, take part in focus groups and test tools in their own working contexts. A High-Level Advisory Board of senior representatives from EU agencies and enforcement networks provides strategic oversight and promotes institutional uptake.
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Evidence before design
Research (WP2) precedes and feeds training (WP3) and tools (WP4). Nothing is produced that is not grounded in a documented operational need.
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Multilingual and adaptable
Core outputs are produced in English and at least two additional EU languages, in digital and print-ready formats, and released in editable versions so that national authorities can adapt them to their own legal and institutional context.
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Open by default
Public deliverables are made freely available through the project repository.
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WORK PACKAGES
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LIFE ECOFORCE is structured in five work packages. The sequence is deliberate: research (WP2) produces the evidence base; training (WP3) and guidance and tools (WP4) build on it; sustainability and exploitation (WP5) carries the results beyond the project; and coordination (WP1) runs throughout.
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| | | | | | | | Project management and coordination
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| | | | | | Training and capacity building
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| | | | | | Sustainability, replication and exploitation
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OUTPUTS & RESOURCES
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ECOFORCE produces research reports, guidance documents, templates, toolkits and training materials, released progressively between 2026 and 2028. Public outputs are made freely available here as they are completed. Restricted outputs, chiefly investigative materials whose circulation must be limited, are made available to registered practitioners through the project repository.
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Outputs are designed to be used, not only read: templates come in editable formats, guidance comes with flowcharts and worked examples, and core documents are translated into at least two additional EU languages.
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Repository
All research outputs, guidance documents and training materials are hosted in the project repository, organised by ECD article, thematic area and intended user (inspector, investigator, prosecutor, judge, policy officer), with search and filter functions and an introductory summary for each resource explaining its purpose, scope and use.
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The repository is maintained by EnviCrimeNet and will remain available after the project’s conclusion..
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GOVERNANCE
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The project is coordinated by the Lisbon Public Law Research Centre - Instituto de Ciências Jurídico-Políticas of the University of Lisbon School of Law.
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A Project Management Board, chaired by the Coordinator and composed of one representative per beneficiary, with the associated partners attending as observers, provides strategic oversight, validates the quality of deliverables and monitors compliance. It meets monthly online, with in-person meetings at the project’s key moments.
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CONSORTIUM
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LIFE ECOFORCE brings together eleven organisations from six countries: an academic research centre, a European law enforcement network, national environmental police forces, a specialised training academy, independent legal and environmental consultancies, and international NGOs working on wildlife trade and environmental forensics.
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Coordinator
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LPL-ICJP — Lisbon Public Law Research Centre
Portugal | Coordinator & WP1 Lead
Coordinates ECOFORCE and leads work on damage thresholds, enforcement approaches, innovative technologies and the training repository.
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Beneficiaries
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Ambiendura
Portugal | WP4 Lead
Leads the development of practical guidance and tools for implementing and enforcing the Environmental Crime Directive.
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EnviCrime Academy (ECA)
Spain | WP3 Lead
Leads training and capacity building, including the training needs assessment, curriculum, training materials and delivery.
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EcoJust
Netherlands | WP2 Lead
Leads research on environmental crime, enforcement practices, crime categories, data collection and investigative tools.
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EnviCrimeNet
Belgium | WP5 Lead
Leads sustainability, replication and exploitation and connects ECOFORCE with environmental law-enforcement agencies across Europe.
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SEPRONA – Guardia Civil
Spain
Contributes operational expertise in environmental crime investigations, intelligence, international cooperation and EMPACT.
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Source International
Italy
Contributes expertise in environmental forensics, technical assessment and innovative technologies for environmental crime investigations.
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TRAFFIC International Europe
Belgium
Contributes expertise on wildlife crime, enforcement data and information exchange and leads development of the project information-exchange tool.
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Associated Partners
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Belgian Federal Police (FPB)
Belgium
Provides operational expertise in environmental inspection and investigation and cross-border environmental crime.
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SEPNA – Guarda Nacional Republicana
Portugal
Contributes operational expertise in environmental crime investigations, intelligence, international cooperation and EMPACT.
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CESAN - Commandement pour l’environnement et la santé, Gendarmerie nationale
France
Contributes operational law-enforcement expertise, including experience with national environmental crime strategies and specialised investigation.
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ADVISORY BODIES
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High-Level Advisory Board (HLAB)
Senior representatives of EU agencies and European enforcement networks, providing strategic oversight and promoting the institutional uptake of the project’s results. Invitations are being extended to EU agencies and networks active in environmental crime, judicial cooperation, law enforcement and training, complemented by individual senior experts.
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Practitioner Sounding Board (PSB)
Operational-level practitioners (inspectors, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and customs officers) from Member States inside and outside the consortium. Members contribute individually rather than as a collective body, responding to specific requests: review of draft documents, focus groups, and testing of tools in their own operational contexts.
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Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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CONSORTIUM
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ASSOCIATED PARTNERS
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