Soil Atlas 2024
Protection measures for climate, water, and biodiversity have been enshrined in EU law – in some cases, for decades. But a comprehensive legal framework for soil protection is still lacking. Previous attempts to create one have been torpedoed, while most existing policies are toothless.
It wasn’t until 2006 that the European Commission launched a comprehensive soil protection initiative. This called on European Union (EU) Member States to incorporate soil protection measures into national policymaking to prevent further soil deterioration. While a majority in the European Parliament supported a framework directive on soil protection, the EU Council was for years unable to agree on a common position. Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands were among the countries that blocked the necessary resolution on the grounds that the proposed law would violate the principle of subsidiarity. This principle stipulates that the Union may intervene only if member states cannot deal with an issue satisfactorily, or if an EU-wide measure would offer a better alternative. On this basis, the European Commission abandoned its attempt to pass a Soil Framework Directive in 2014.
The only standardised legal framework for soil protection at EU level is the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Farm enterprises that receive payments under this scheme must comply with a series of requirements. For example, they are not allowed to burn cereal stubble after harvest, and they must practise a minimum level of crop rotation. They can also receive extra funding if they apply additional voluntary measures.
The Soil Atlas 2024 presents data and facts about the importance and condition of land, soils and arable land. In numerous graphics and text contributions, it provides a current insight into the condition of and threats to the soils on which we live.
Even so, the CAP has been heavily criticised in the past, and experts question whether it is capable of promoting sustainable soil management. As a result of various exemptions and deflated reference values, the requirement to diversify crops has so far only led to a change in cultivation on just 2 percent of the entire arable land in the EU. Additionally, there is often very little funding available for voluntary environmental subsidy schemes. Moreover, although the CAP has incorporated slight improvements in the protection of natural resources, it is still harshly criticised by environmental groups. One recent analysis of the CAP found its environmental protection measures to be woefully inadequate: for example, the period during which soil must remain covered over winter according to EU environmental regulations is too short, and Germany’s ban on ploughing in areas at risk of water erosion applies only during a very short period from December to mid-February.
Soil protection regulations are needed now more than ever. Until last year, two important, though insufficient, EU regulations were in place that attempted to protect soils and biodiversity. The first was a minimum standard on crop rotation, requiring one change in crop per year. However, this requirement did not clearly stipulate which crop to rotate. In addition, EU Member States had the option to permit exceptions regarding crop selection, including for smaller farms. Requiring the main crops to change from one year to the next would have promoted soil protection more effectively. This requirement was suspended in 2023, in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The second was a requirement to reserve at least 4 percent of arable areas for fallow and hedgerows. Yet, in the aftermath of the farmers’ protests in early 2024, both requirements have been permanently abolished.
Implementation of voluntary measures is also sorely lacking. Experts note that roughly half of all soil protection measures are largely ineffective. A special report by the European Court of Auditors came to the same conclusion.
For a while it seemed that the European Green Deal would breathe new life into the issue of soil protection. When the European Commission presented its Soil Strategy for 2030, environmental organisations hoped for an improved version of the failed Soil Framework Directive and for greater coherence with the CAP. They were disappointed. The European Commission’s draft Soil Monitoring Law, tabled in the summer of 2023, proposes neither quantitative goals nor concrete measures. It almost completely ignores the problem of urban sprawl and lacks binding targets to limit soil sealing. It also has no binding requirements for sustainable soil management. Instead of protecting the soil, the draft law merely aims to standardise the Europe-wide inventory of soil health.
Mandatory minimum standards to protect soils are needed for the new CAP funding period which begins in 2028. Loopholes should be closed and exemptions restricted. Improved quality standards for voluntary subsidy schemes are also needed – and those schemes should be thoroughly analysed for effectiveness before public money is spent.
