The EU soil law is a first step. Now we need interventions against degradation

Yesterday in Brussels was a historic day in its own way. After decades of waiting and months of discussions with experts, operators in the sectors involved and civil society, the European Commission has presented its proposal for a Soil Directive. A measure of great importance, an initiative that reaffirms the EU’s commitment to restore the health of continental soils. But what took place on Wednesday, it should be stressed, should be seen as a first step on a journey that will require further steps to be considered fully satisfactory.

The great merit of the proposal is to push the Member States to important monitoring actions. The Commission’s objective is in fact to arrive, within the next five years, at having a precise picture of the situation of European soils. On other aspects, the text illustrated by the Vice-President of the Commission Frans Timmermans and by the Commissioner for the Environment, Virginijus Sinkeviciusonly partially reflects the ambitious and forward-looking goals that Europe had already set before.

In its 2030 Soil Strategy, in particular, the Commission is committed to restoring all European soils to health by mid-century. To achieve this, concrete, courageous actions and a decisive change of course are needed, starting with the consumption of soil which proceeds at an unsustainable pace in many countries, Italy in primis. In the same introduction to the bill, the Commission recalls that 60-70% of continental soils are diseased and that arable land has halved in 50 years from 0.36 hectares per capita to 0.18.

The decision to set up a coherent monitoring framework for all soils in the EU and for oblige Member States to have an up-to-date register of contaminated sites, making at the same time a specific assessment for each site on its effects on human health, certainly represents good news. At the same time, however, it must be remembered that no mapping activity, not even the most capillary and in-depth, is capable, by itself, of reversing the trend of soil health degradation. In short, if we want to achieve concrete results, we must do more, by inserting, for example, specific objectives that are the result of an impact assessment, a dialogue with the parties and a systemic vision that takes into account the consequences of the actions implemented in each sector.

However, the proposal for a directive already contains several important elements that deserve due recognition. For example, it is positive the choice to provide a set of “guidelines” that the States should follow in case of soil consumption. According to the text of the Commission, the areas subject to this phenomenon should be reduced as much as possible and, where it were not possible to prevent the consumption itself, the countries would be called upon to select those areas where the loss of ecosystem services would in any case be reduced to a minimum, also compensating this deficit as much as possible and safeguarding the most “noble” lands.

Also important is the will to support farmers who have invested in sustainable agricultural practices – such as crop rotation, for example – also through carbon farming models and reward systems, with the aim of enhancing virtuous cases. Me too’attention to the reduction of waste from the agri-food chain – minus 10% the target set for 2030 but minus 30% for distribution and consumption – represents a positive sign.

At this point, however, we must follow the approval process that will begin in the next few weeks with extreme attention. It will be important here enhance the content of the directive. The hope is that the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament will make significant additions to the current text so as to make it consistent with the priority of having healthy land. 95% of our agricultural production depends on them – it should never be forgotten. Proper management of soil, the most limited resource we have, also helps mitigate the climate crisis and optimizes the efficiency of carbon sequestration. These are challenges we cannot evade.

For its part, the Re Soil Foundation and the academic and productive realities that make it up will do their part to increasingly spread awareness of how healthy soils are an essential element for our future, our health, our ecosystem.

*Debora Fino is president of the Re Soil Foundation