The Commission welcomes the provisional political agreement reached today between the European Parliament and the Council on the Commissions proposal for a Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive.

The Soil Monitoring Law will lead the EU towards healthier soils for the benefit of citizens, farmers, land managers, and the environment.

This is a crucial step to tackle urgent soil health challenges affecting every European country, the resilience of our food chain, and the broader economy. The new law will also aid in boosting the resilience of soils to natural disasters, heatwaves, and extreme weather conditions, as well as other critical environmental challenges, such as erosion, contamination, and biodiversity loss.

The main aim of the new directive is to introduce a framework for monitoring soil health across the EU that is pragmatic and flexible, based on national soil monitoring systems. Given the complexity of soil, the directive allows Member States considerable flexibility to adapt their approach to local soil conditions.

In line with the simplification agenda, the directives stepwise and pragmatic approach will minimize the burden for Member States. The agreement also extended most deadlines for the directives stepwise implementation proposed by the Commission. Furthermore, Member States in need can receive assistance from the Commission for soil sampling, testing, and archiving. The directive will not impose obligations on landowners and land managers, including farmers, to monitor or improve soil health and resilience.

Specific measures to ensure healthier soils

The agreement reached today outlines the following key measures to be undertaken by Member States:

• Establish a comprehensive and harmonized, yet flexible, soil health monitoring framework with criteria for healthy soil;
• Provide support to soil managers to improve soil health and resilience;
• Mitigate the impacts of land take, such as buildings and infrastructures, on soils capacity to provide other ecosystem services while not preventing the permitting of such activities;
• Identify potentially contaminated sites and manage them to eliminate risks for human health and the environment while respecting the polluter pays principle.

Next steps

The European Parliament and the Council will now formally adopt the new Directive before it can enter into force. It will then enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU, after which Member States will be required to establish the national framework within 3 years for the directive to operate.

Background

The Commission adopted its proposal for the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive on July 5, 2023. The Directive is a key element of the European Green Deal, the Soil Strategy, the Biodiversity Strategy, and the Zero Pollution Action Plan.

Soil degradation and contamination pose significant risks to food security and safety, biodiversity, resilience to climate and extreme weather events. Currently, 60 to 70% of soils in the EU are in an unhealthy state. For example, a billion tonnes of soil are washed away every year due to erosion, resulting in an estimated annual agricultural productivity loss of €1.25 billion. Costs associated with soil degradation are estimated at over €50 billion per year.

Making soil data available will support innovation, technological, and organizational solutions, notably in farming practices. It will help farmers and other landowners implement the most suitable treatment methods and assist them in increasing soil fertility and yields while minimizing water and nutrient consumption. Additionally, this data will enhance our understanding of trends in droughts, water retention, and erosion, strengthening disaster prevention and management. Healthy soils and improved data provide additional income opportunities for farmers and land managers, who can be rewarded for carbon farming, receive payments for ecosystem services, or for enhancing the value of healthy soils and the food produced on them.

For More Information

Commissions proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (July 5, 2023)

Commission website on soil and land