Debate: Soil protection
Date: MONDAY, 26 APRIL 2021
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

As you know, our soil and the biodiversity it contains is a vast biological engine driving a multitude of processes that underpin our well-being and our survival. Soil is one of the earth’s biggest carbon sinks and holds one quarter of terrestrial biodiversity. Fertile soils provide us with healthy food, clean drinking water and potential medicines. But land and soil degradation is getting worse. It is estimated to now cost Europeans around 38 billion per year. The Commission has been advocating a common approach since many years and for joint action by the EU and its Member States to reverse these trends. Yet today, and although degradation advances relentlessly, the EU is still not equipped with a legal framework that would give the same protection to soil as to water, air, the marine environment and nature. In the context of the Green Deal, we have therefore decided to come back to the issue. When we look at soil legislation in the Member States, the picture is uneven. In Member States where pressures on soil are high, there are often fewer policy instruments to protect those soils. But strong measures pay dividends. Member States with targets and strong legislation have made faster progress in managing soils contaminated by the industrial action of the past. Today, very few Member States have a comprehensive framework covering soil protection, restoration, sustainable use and monitoring, and the playing field is not level. The question of who pays for remediation varies considerably. In some Member States, these costs are fully covered by the public sector. In others, up to 70% of soil remediation costs have to be paid by the private sector. This House has been calling for a new strategy, and in the coming months the Commission will deliver. In line with what we announced in the European Green Deal and in the biodiversity strategy, the framework we will propose in autumn will give a renewed impetus to soil protection with tangible steps to strengthen existing protection and reduce threats. We are also working on a legislative proposal for binding nature restoration targets later on this year. This will help restore degraded ecosystems, including soil, and we are stepping up protection in a number of ways. As part of the farm-to-fork strategy, the Commission will take additional actions to reduce by 2030 the overall risk and use of chemical pesticides by 50%, the use of more hazardous pesticides by 50%, and the sale of antimicrobials by 50%. We will also act to reduce nutrient losses by at least 50% while ensuring that there is no deterioration in soil fertility. The current legislation that addresses change in soil organic carbon, the land use, the land use change and forestry regulation is being reviewed, and proposals for related targets under the Green Deal and climate target plan are expected in the summer in the so-called ‘Fit for 55’ package. Finally, the zero pollution action plan for air, water and soil due in May will cover the issue of contaminated sites. Progress will be monitored through the EU Soil Observatory, hosted by the Joint Research Centre and by the EU Copernicus Earth Observation and Monitoring programme. Honourable Members, the importance of soil protection and political expectations to act are high. This is why the Commission is convinced that common rules and a clearer policy framework are needed, as they will also help Member States, regions and stakeholders to use the available EU funds more effectively. And let me close by stressing that these new initiatives for soil protection will, of course, take full account of the principle of subsidiarity. They will complement national actions and address policy gaps identified at EU level.