BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed a diluted law on "green crime" on Wednesday that would make dumping toxic waste or illegally transporting hazardous materials a criminal offence throughout the bloc.

The law obliges the EU's 27 member states to treat and punish as criminal acts a list of nine offences ranging from harming protected plants or species to unlawful trade in ozone-depleting substances.

But it does not set EU-wide sanctions to the dismay of environmentalists who doubt it will have much impact.

EU states have up to two years to start implementing the legislation, which was adopted both by lawmakers and ambassadors on Wednesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The European Commission had originally proposed sentences of between five to 10 years in jail for environmental crimes that killed or seriously injured people, and fines of more than 1 million euros ($1.6 million) for companies involved.

But the bloc's top court ruled at the end of last year that the EU could not specify the type and level of sanctions.

The text now mentions "effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties," with no details.

(Reporting by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Keith Weir)