Germany no longer opposes a European directive against soil pollution. This further reduces resistance within the EU against such a directive, as became clear last week at the EU Environment Council. France wants to handle soil protection within the EU during its upcoming half-year term as EU president.
The EU soil strategy stems from the European Green Deal and the European biodiversity strategy. Through these, Europe aims to address climate and biodiversity challenges. According to the European Commission, 70 percent of soils are currently not in good condition. When the plans were presented in November, there were still many protests against European interference in national competences.
The European Commission wants a law to protect the soil and is supported in this by the European Parliament. Some EU member states consider soil protection a national matter. Until now, Germany also argued that soil, unlike air and water, is not mobile and that protecting it is therefore not a European task.
The new center-left German government sees it differently. Soil degradation threatens throughout the EU, said the new Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). That's why soil fertility must be addressed collectively. Lemke did emphasize that national and European regulations should overlap as little as possible.
Sweden, Denmark, and Hungary also called for only essential measures but accept that an EU directive must be established.
The new soil strategy specifies that from 2050 onwards, no more arable land and grassland should be lost. Until then, construction in agricultural areas must be compensated by reclaiming new farmland. Romania and Bulgaria believe that the EU should also release funds for the remediation and cleaning of polluted soils.
In a first reaction last November, LTO Netherlands stated that the Netherlands has had its own soil policy for forty years with 'more than enough legal possibilities.' Since the 1980s, according to LTO, the Netherlands has actively implemented a soil policy as one of the first EU member states, calling that 'already more than sufficient.'