Farmland protection is one of the most neglected areas of EU law. Although a number of policies indirectly address soil issues, there is currently no legislation in the EU legal acquis that specifically addresses soil protection.1 Land use as a natural resource (as well as other related areas of land administration such as land certification or registration) remains a matter for national legislators. EU regulations that aim to protect land are usually either indirect horizontal (general) measures or directly focused on soil quality and fall under agri-environmental regulation.2 The recent emphasis on the policy agenda has highlighted the link between soil conservation for agriculture and other issues of agricultural policy, such as land tenure and the regulation of access to land, which is already a matter of land tenure policy.3 At the heart of the issue is the question of who has the authority to legislate on land tenure. In principle, land tenure issues are not subject to shared competence, land ownership is under the jurisdiction of the Member States, but it is subject to severe restrictions based on the principle of free movement of capital enshrined in the Treaties, as land is capital.4 The concerns of EU policy makers about the land use structure, which is fundamental to land protection, have typically been mainly addressed in non-binding legal documents, such as in the EU Guidelines on land policy planning and support for reform processes in developing countries.

The EU’s primary initiative on soil protection is the Soil Thematic Strategy (abbr. STS), adopted by the European Commission in 2006. The STS was designed to provide a comprehensive framework for soil protection across Europe, focusing on preventing further soil degradation, preserving soil functions, and restoring degraded soils. The strategy highlighted the need for EU-wide action due to the transboundary nature of soil degradation issues. The STS identified eight major threats to soil, including erosion, organic matter decline, contamination, salinisation, compaction, soil biodiversity loss, landslides, and soil sealing. While the STS laid the groundwork for EU soil policy, its implementation has faced significant challenges. The proposed Soil Framework Directive, intended to provide binding legal protection for soils, was ultimately blocked by a minority of Member States and was withdrawn in 2014.6 Despite this setback, the STS has influenced other policy areas and has raised awareness of soil protection issues across the EU.7

The Common Agricultural Policy (abbr. CAP) is one of the most influential EU policies affecting soil protection. The CAP is a comprehensive agricultural policy that provides financial support to farmers and promotes sustainable agricultural practices. It has evolved over time to include environmental protection as a key objective. There are several measures in the CAP aimed at soil protection. One of them is the cross-compliance measures, where payments to farmers are conditional on compliance with specific environmental requirements, including those related to soil conservation. These conditions include maintaining soil organic matter levels, preventing soil erosion, and preserving soil structure. The 2013 reform of the CAP introduced greening’ measures, which require farmers to implement practices that benefit the environment, such as crop diversification, maintaining permanent grassland, and establishing ecological focus areas. These measures indirectly contribute to soil protection.8 Under the CAP’s rural development pillar, Member States can fund agri-environment schemes that promote sustainable land management practices, including soil conservation techniques such as reduced tillage and cover cropping. These measures have contributed to soil protection by incentivising sustainable agricultural practices, however, theirs effectiveness has been criticised due to the voluntary nature of many of the soil protection measures and the variability in implementation across Member States. Moreover, concerns have been raised about the adequacy of CAP funding for achieving meaningful soil conservation outcomes. One of the main criticisms of the CAP is that the system promotes intensive farming practices that can have a negative impact on soil health. Intensive farming and industrial agriculture can contribute to soil degradation, loss of organic matter and soil erosion. Intensive monoculture systems and excessive fertiliser and pesticide use also reduce soil biodiversity and natural fertility.9

 

The Nitrates Directive10, adopted in 1991, aims to protect water quality across Europe by preventing nitrates from agricultural sources from polluting groundwater and surface waters. The directive promotes good agricultural practices that reduce nitrate leaching into soil, thereby indirectly protecting soil quality. These practices include appropriate fertiliser application rates, crop rotation, and the maintenance of buffer strips along watercourses. Member States must designate Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (abbr. NVZs) where nitrate pollution is a significant issue. In these zones, farmers are required to implement specific measures to reduce nitrate losses, which also benefits soil health. However, this zonal approach has been criticised for being too narrow, as pollution can also occur outside designated NVZs. Studies have shown that nitrate contamination is a widespread issue that can affect areas not classified as vulnerable, thereby leaving significant agricultural regions unregulated.11 This selective implementation may limit the effectiveness of the directive in fully addressing nitrate pollution across all agricultural lands. The directive has also been criticised for its relatively rigid, one-size-fits-all approach, which may not account for local variations in soil types, agricultural practices, and environmental conditions. The same nitrate limits and measures are applied across diverse agricultural landscapes, which can reduce the efficiency of the directive in addressing specific pollution sources or areas where more tailored solutions might be more effective.12 Flexible, locally adapted solutions may lead to more significant reductions in nitrate pollution.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030,13 adopted in 2020, is part of the European Green Deal and aims to put Europe’s biodiversity on a path to recovery by 2030. Soil biodiversity is a key component of this strategy. The strategy includes ambitious targets for the restoration of degraded ecosystems, which directly involve the restoration of soil health. It emphasises the importance of protecting and enhancing soil biodiversity as a means to achieve broader biodiversity goals. It calls for the development of a new EU Soil Health Law, which would address soil degradation comprehensively, including aspects related to soil biodiversity.

The European Green Deal,14 launched in 2019, is the EU’s overarching strategy for achieving climate neutrality by 2050. It includes several initiatives that are relevant to soil protection, particularly in the context of sustainable agriculture and climate action. The Farm to Fork Strategy is a key component of the Green Deal, aiming to make food systems more sustainable. It promotes practices such as organic farming, reduced pesticide use, and precision agriculture, all of which contribute to soil health. The Green Deal promotes carbon farming as a means to enhance soil carbon sequestration. This involves incentivising practices that increase soil organic carbon, such as cover cropping, agroforestry, and reduced tillage. However, its success will hinge on the implementation of detailed regulations and sufficient financial support to ensure that soil protection measures are effectively integrated into broader sustainability efforts.

 

In November 2021, the European Commission launched the EU Soil Strategy for 203015 which is a critical component of the European Green Deal and represents a renewed commitment to soil protection within the European Union (abbr. EU). The strategy outlines a comprehensive framework to ensure that all soils in the EU are healthy and sustainable by 2050, with a particular focus on achieving significant progress by 2030. The 2021 EU Soil Strategy builds on previous initiatives, including the 2006 Soil Thematic Strategy, which highlighted the urgent need for soil protection across the EU. However, the failure to adopt a binding Soil Framework Directive in the past left a gap in comprehensive soil legislation. The 2021 strategy seeks to address this gap by setting out ambitious targets and proposing new legislative measures to protect and restore soil health. It sets a target to restore at least 30% of degraded soils in the EU by 2030. Restoration efforts will focus on enhancing soil organic matter, reducing soil erosion, and remediating contaminated sites. The strategy aligns with international commitments, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (abbr. SDGs), particularly SDG 15.3, which aims for land degradation neutrality by 2030. It proposes the establishment of a comprehensive EU soil monitoring framework to gather consistent, high-quality data on soil health across Member States. This will help inform policy decisions and track progress towards soil protection goals.

The Soil Monitoring and Resilience Law, often referred to as the Soil Monitoring Law,16 is an emerging initiative within the broader context of the EU Soil Strategy for 2030. This law is designed to establish a standardised framework for monitoring soil health across the European Union, ensuring that soil is resilient and capable of sustaining its essential function in the face of environmental pressures and climate change. This law aims to ensure that soil health data is collected systematically, enabling better decision-making for soil protection and management.17 The law focuses on tracking key soil health indicators, assessing soil resilience, and identifying areas where soils are at risk of degradation. The Soil Monitoring Law will establish a set of soil health indicators that Member States must monitor. These indicators are likely to include Soil Organic Carbon (abbr. SOC) a critical indicator of soil health, soil erosion rates, soil contamination rates etc. This law aims to fill the legislative gap that has hindered comprehensive soil governance in the EU and it represents a critical step toward comprehensive soil protection in Europe. While still in the proposal stage, its development is being closely watched by various stakeholders. If successfully adopted, this law could provide the binding legal framework necessary to achieve the ambitious goals set out in the EU Soil Strategy for 2030, ensuring that all EU soils are healthy and capable of sustaining their essential functions by 2050. The coming years will be crucial as the proposal moves through the legislative process and stakeholders work to reconcile various interests to achieve a robust and effective soil protection law.