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The European Commission has adopted the European Union (EU) Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking [COM(2016) 87 final]. This Plan has been expressly supported and assumed by the Member States at the meeting of the Council of Environment Ministers of the EU, held on June 20, 2016. In said Plan, mechanisms were established to coordinate the entities with participation in the fight against this type of crime, such as police, customs and inspection services, among others.
Through the Resolution of April 4, 2018, of the General Directorate of Quality and Environmental and Natural Environment Assessment, the Agreement of the Council of Ministers of February 16, 2018 was published, approving the Spanish Action Plan against Illegal trafficking and international poaching of wild species. This Plan constitutes the commitment of the Government of Spain to contribute to the application of the EU Action Plan, the appropriate impulse and framework for the maximum use of the resources of the General State Administration in the fight against this scourge.
The Spanish Action Plan highlights the high economic impact associated with illicit activities in this area, which is a special attraction for organized crime groups, whose involvement in this area is increasing exponentially. Illegal trafficking and poaching pose a serious threat to biodiversity, the survival of some species and the integrity of ecosystems, while fueling conflicts, threatening national and regional security in the areas of origin of certain species, and implying a risk to public health in destination areas and internationally.
Among the objects of the Spanish Action Plan is the strengthening of the capacity of all the links in the coercive chain and of the judiciary so that effective measures can be taken against illegal trafficking and international poaching of wild species, improving for this purpose national level cooperation, coordination, communication and data flow between the competent bodies.
By virtue of Organic Law 2/1986, of March 13, on Security Forces and Bodies, the Civil Guard is responsible, among other things, for ensuring compliance with the provisions that tend to conserve nature and the environment, water resources, as well as hunting, fish, forestry and any other nature-related wealth.
In Royal Decree 734/2020, of August 4, which develops the basic organic structure of the Ministry of the Interior, it is established that it corresponds to the Headquarters of the Nature Protection Service of the Civil Guard (SEPRONA) planning, impulsive and coordinating, within the scope of the powers of the Civil Guard, compliance with the provisions related to the conservation of nature and the environment, protected areas, water resources, hunting and fishing, animal abuse, archaeological and paleontological sites, and land use planning. In the Royal Decree mentioned above, this Headquarters depends on the National Central Office for the analysis of information on activities related to the environment (the National Central Office, hereinafter).
In this context, the much-cited Spanish Action Plan prior to the creation of a National Central Office within the structure of SEPRONA, with the participation of organizations and institutions with competence in the matter. The National Central Office will stimulate coordination and optimize the potential available to achieve improvements in the environment, and will become a benchmark at the national level, establishing procedures for the analysis and dissemination of intelligence on environmental matters, in close collaboration with the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. The creation of the National Central Office has had the European support of the Life Nature Guardians project.
In the initiative and processing of this standard, the principles of necessity, effectiveness, proportionality, legal certainty, transparency and efficiency, required in article 129 of Law 39/2015, of October 1, of the Common Administrative Procedure of the Public administrations. Regarding the principle of necessity and effectiveness, this National Central Office must be formally created, as well as its dependency, cooperation relationships and functions to be able to fulfill the established objectives, being a ministerial order the most adequate normative instrument for it. In relation to proportionality, this initiative contains the essential regulation to be able to provide the National Central Office with content and functionality. Based on the principle of legal security, this order is consistent with the rest of the national and EU legal system, showing in this sense stability and regulatory certification.
By virtue thereof, at the joint proposal of the Minister of the Interior and the Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, with the prior authorization of the Minister of Finance and Public Administration, I order:
Article 1 Object
The purpose of this order is to create the National Central Office for the analysis of information on activities related to the environment (hereinafter, the National Central Office), and to determine its dependency, cooperation relations and functions.
Article 2 Dependence, cooperation and relations of the National Central Bureau
1. The National Central Office has an organic and functional dependence on the Headquarters of the Nature Protection Service of the Civil Guard (SEPRONA).
2. The National Central Office, in order to undertake the functions entrusted to it, maintain cooperative relations with other institutions and organizations, national and international, with responsibility for the conservation and protection of the environment and nature.
3. The cooperation relations described in the previous point will materialize in accordance with the provisions of article 144 of Law 40/2015, of October 1, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector.
Article 3 Functions of the National Central Bureau
The functions of the National Central Office are:
- a) Promote cooperation, coordination, advice and communication of actions at the national level in the conservation and protection of nature and the environment, protected areas, water resources, hunting and fishing, and in the fight against Illegal wildlife trade and animal abuse.
- b) Be a point of contact with national and international organizations in relation to the analysis of information on environmental activities.
- c) Carry out the analysis of said information received by sober illegal environmental activities, to generate intelligence based on the same and disseminate it to those national and international organizations that may be interested in the fight against this type of crime.
- d) Prepare the technical information that is necessary in favor of those actions to fight against illegal environmental activities.
Single additional provision No increase in public spending
The operation of the National Central Office is expected with the personal means and materials of the General Directorate of the Civil Guard, and will not entail an increase in public spending.
FINAL PROVISIONS
First final provision Powers of development and execution
The head of the General Directorate of the Civil Guard is empowered to issue the necessary instructions, within the scope of their powers, to develop the structure of the National Central Office.
Second final provision Entry into force
This order will enter into force the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette.
