In a leaked version (to be presented Wednesday), it is left to the EU countries themselves to decide when and how to take soil samples. Also, no quantified target for soil health is established. This means Brussels ignores a call published in March by environmental groups and some international companies to set binding goals to prevent soil erosion and pollution.
The EU has long had laws for air and water quality, but not yet for soil. According to previous EU reports, 60 to 70 percent of soil is unhealthy and subject to erosion, compaction, contamination, and salinization. The European Environment Agency estimates that 2.8 million locations have contaminated soil. The amount of agricultural land per person in the EU has halved over the past 50 years, according to the document.
An earlier legislative proposal from 2010 failed due to opposition from member states, including Germany and France. Opponents at that time said the European Commission was overstepping its authority. As part of the Climate and Green Deal plans, the new clean soil regulation was announced at the end of 2021.
The Dutch cabinet stated in an initial response that there are significant differences among EU countries and regions in terms of soil condition, soil use, and the interaction within soil-sediment-water systems. The cabinet advocated for sufficient room to translate European goals at the national level, which apparently is now included in the new regulation.
Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever who now campaigns for environmental issues, told the Financial Times that he also hopes sharper goals will be developed, but that these would have to be "very location- and crop-specific."
Former State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven, now vice president of the European division of the World Resources Institute, said that "good soil health is essential to reduce carbon emissions" and that "ambitious implementation" of the measures by EU countries would be "key." She was also previously an international diplomat, representing the Netherlands in the European Union and working on EU environmental research.