Environment ministers push for more flexibility first EU law monitoring soil

EU member states reached a common position on the bloc’s first law for soils during a meeting of the Environment Council (ENV) on Monday (17 June), granting countries greater flexibility in implementing the rules.  

The Council endorsed the European Commission’s aims to achieve healthy soils by 2050 but reaffirmed that this is an “aspirational long-term objective of the Directive,” reads the text voted by national delegations.  

The compromise text maintains the obligations for sustainable soil management included in the Commission’s original proposal, contrary to the stance adopted by the European Parliament in April. 

The principles, however, on which soil management practices should be based are voluntary, giving member states flexibility in designing their own measures.

Another change to the text is the ending of the Commission’s proposal for voluntary soil health certificates for farmers. EU farmers association COPA and COGECA supporting the move, said it would have negatively affected the land market by creating disparities across the bloc.

The Joint Research Centre – the Commission’s scientific service – estimates that around 60%-70% of European soils are in an unhealthy state, with the most common types of degradation being the loss of soil organic carbon and biodiversity, and the risk of peatland degradation. 

Since the proposal for an EU soil law was tabled by the Commission,  in July last year, it has faced criticism by Green lawmakers and campaigners for “lacking ambition”.

Concerns over introducing further flexibility 

Alain Maron, the chair of the ENV Council under the Belgian Presidency, stressed that humans and ecosystems depend on soils as a source of “food, clean water, and habitat,” but noted that these are also a non-renewable resource. 

“Today, we are taking an important step towards healthy soils in the EU by 2050,” he added. 

While the Commission proposed an EU-wide approach to assess soil health, the Council’s proposal splits the criteria into two distinct values.  

The first, labeled “non-binding sustainable target values,” would be partially standardised across the EU. The Council’s position also states that these are “non-binding” and “do not create an obligation to act.” 

The second type, instead, the “operational trigger values” determined by individual member states, will set off actions to regenerate soils. 

This choice raises concerns among environmental groups.

“We are very concerned about the further erosion of an already weak proposal,” said Caroline Heinzel, policy officer at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), in a press release, adding that flexibility “should not undermine a unified and harmonised EU approach.” 

COPA and COGECA, however, welcomed the Council’s move to give EU countries further flexibility, saying that the Commission’s proposed criteria was “unrealistic and unrepresentative” of the state of soils.  

But the association regretted that sustainable soil management practices are kept mandatory. 

Negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament on the file are expected to start after the summer.

[Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Rajnish Singh]

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