Joint statement on the publication of the European Commission proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience

The European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law), in its current form, will not enable the achievement of healthy soils in the EU.

To address this lack of ambition, the 38 signatories of this joint statement call on the European Parliament and Council to ensure the Soil Law includes: 

• A strengthening of the overarching objective 
• Legally binding targets 
• Focused monitoring on soil biology and land users  
• Effective governance with mandatory plans 
• Soil pollution prevention and cleaning up  
• Binding provisions on land take (area of land ‘taken’ by infrastructure) 
• Implementation of the polluters pays principle  
• Mobilisation of necessary financial resources