The Proposal for a Soil Directive: An Effective and Robust Instrument for EU Soils?

Abstract

Soils are threatened both in Europe and worldwide, predominantly because of human activities (e.g., unsustainable management practices in the agricultural and forestry sectors, soil contamination from the industries and soil sealing due to urbanization and building of infrastructures). Soil degradation and loss come at a substantial cost and have many repercussions on other features of the environment, such as landscapes and ecosystems.

All the above prompts the question of what EU law has done to manage and rectify the situation.

After the issues encountered in the context of the Proposal for a Soil Framework Directive in the past, the Green Deal and the Soil Strategy seemed to infuse new energy into the soil policy agenda and made clear that the Commission was very much ready for an ambitious step forward, in the form of a Soil Directive.

However, while the proposed Directive covers important aspects of soil protection and remediation, it also falls short on several counts.