Proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law): Preliminary analysis and first recommendations

On 5 July 2023, the Commission published its legislative proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience, or Soil Monitoring Law (SML). Among its key elements, the proposal provides a harmonised definition of soil health, puts in place a soil monitoring framework, and aims to foster sustainable soil management and remediation of contaminated sites. Nonetheless, the proposal has many shortcomings, including a weak governance structure and lack of legally binding targets. An ambitious SML is crucial to achieving the climate, biodiversity, water and zero pollution targets under the European Green Deal, as well as the targets and objectives set out in the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy and Biodiversity Strategy. We therefore provide the following analysis of the Commission’s proposal and invite EU decision-makers to consider our recommendations to strengthen the SML in this next stage of the legislative process.