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Proposal for a directive on soil monitoring and resilience (soil monitoring law)

In “A European Green Deal”

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Adopted on 17 November 2021, the new EU soil strategy for 2030, which aims to bring all EU soil ecosystems in good condition by 2050, announced that the European Commission would table a proposal for a new soil health law to address transboundary impacts of soil degradation and achieve policy coherence at EU and national level.

In its work programme for 2023, the Commission confirmed its intention to table a legislative initiative on soils.

On 5 July 2023, the Commission presented a proposal for a directive on soil monitoring and resilience ('soil monitoring law'). The long-term objective of the proposed directive is to have all soils across the EU in healthy condition by 2050, as outlined in the soil strategy. To achieve this ambition, the proposal provides a common definition of what constitutes a healthy soil, and lays down measures on monitoring and assessment of soil health, sustainable soil management, and remediation of contaminated sites. Under the proposed directive, Member States would be required to regularly monitor soil health and land take within 'soils districts' to be established throughout their territory. Based on the monitoring data collected, they would have to perform soil health assessments at least every 5 years, enabling them to decide on the regeneration measures needed. The proposal also requests Member States to identify, investigate, assess and remediate contaminated sites. Contaminated sites, and potentially contaminated sites, should be recorded in a national register, publicly accessible online.

In Parliament, the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), responsible for the file, adopted its report on 11 March 2024. It would enable soil district authorities to draw up their own soil district plans. To respect the autonomy of the countries willing to implement more comprehensive monitoring systems, Member States would be able to choose among three tiers for soil monitoring design, with different soil descriptors and soil health criteria. Tier 1 includes a minimum set of descriptors that needs to be covered. The report proposes a more nuanced approach for assessing soil health, based on a five-level classification of soil ecological status (high, good, moderate ecological status, degraded and critically degraded soils). Soils would be deemed healthy if they achieve either good or high ecological status. Member States would have 10 years to upgrade the status of critically degraded soils to degraded soils, and six years to improve the classification of degraded soils to moderate ecological status and of soils with moderate ecological status to good ecological status. The report adds flexibility to the proposed sustainable soil management requirements, and asks the Commission to compile a sustainable soil management toolbox, with practical information for soil managers. It supports the setting up of a public register of contaminated and potentially contaminated sites.

On 10 April 2024, Parliament adopted its first reading position on the basis of the ENVI report (by 336 votes to 242 and 33 abstentions). A number of new amendments were adopted in plenary. In particular, Parliament voted to exclude raw material deposits from the definition of soil. It added flexibility for monitoring and assessing soil health, allowing Member States to apply the soil descriptors that best illustrate the soil characteristics of each soil type at national level. Parliament decided not to retain the mandatory timeline proposed in the ENVI report for upgrading soil status. It voted to remove Member States' obligations to define sustainable soil management practices, regularly assess the effectiveness of the measures taken, and review and revise them if necessary. It therefore also deleted the proposed list of sustainable soil management principles. Parliament deleted the proposed provisions on penalties.

The Council adopted its position on 17 June 2024. It clarifies the administrative structure relevant for the soil health monitoring framework, adds flexibilities for soil measurements and sets out minimum quality requirements for laboratories analysing soil samples. It proposes a double value system for assessing soil health, with non-binding sustainable target values to reflect the long-term objective of the proposal, and operational trigger values set at Member State level for each soil descriptor. While keeping the aspirational goal of achieving no net land take by 2050, the Council suggests tackling as a first step soil sealing and soil destruction as the most visible, impactful and easiest to monitor aspects of land take. It clarifies the guiding nature of the sustainable soil management principles listed in the proposed directive. It introduces a risk-based and stepwise approach on contaminated sites, to allow Member States to prioritise measures. Provisions on  penalties are deleted.

Co-legislators reached a provisional deal on 10 April 2025. The agreed text leaves more flexibility for Member States to take account of local conditions. It provides for specific support to landowners and land managers, such as advice, training activities and capacity-building, to improve soil health and soil resilience, and for regular assessment of technical and financial needs in that respect. It addresses the issue of land take through two specific aspects, soil sealing and soil removal. On soil contamination, the text notably requires the Commission to establish an indicative watch list of soil pollutants of concern for which data are needed; and Member States to identify potentially contaminated sites and to record them in a public register within 10 years of entry into force.

Following formal adoption of the agreement by the co-legislators, the final act, signed on 12 November, was published on 26 November 2025 in the EU Official Journal. Member States have until 17 December 2028 to transpose it into national law.

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Author: Vivienne Halleux, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 20/02/2026.