By Anne-France White - 21st September 2006
Long-awaited European commission proposals to protect the EU’s have been rejected as a ‘very timid first step’ by environmental organisations.
The policy paper was delayed for months due following industry resistance, particularly on elements such as the introduction of a “soil status report” which must be presented when a piece of land is sold.
The resulting report gives extensive leeway to the member states on identifying risk areas and setting their own targets on protecting soil, and on deciding how and by when to achieve them.
The commission says this is because “soil degradation offers a very scattered picture throughout Europe”.
But green NGO the European Environmental Bureau says the proposal “is too weak to power the changes needed to reverse the continuing degradation of Europe’s soil, and can therefore only be seen as a very timid first step”.
“The EEB is deeply disappointed that the commission has failed to include precisely those elements which are indispensable for prompting necessary action at national and regional level, such as setting enforceable targets and common quality standards.”
Under the plans, the EU’s member states have seven years to identify risk areas, adopt risk reduction targets and set out measures to achieve these; they must also establish an inventory of contaminated sites on their territory and draw up national strategies.
So far, only nine member states have specific legislation on soil protection, and this is usually targeted at very specific threats like desertification and contamination.
Soil is a non-renewable resource which takes centuries to form, yet the last few decades have seen a huge degradation of soil across Europe due to pollution and urban sprawl.
The commission says erosion, organic matter decline, salinisation, landslides and contamination could be costing the EU up to €38bn per year.
45 per cent of European soils now have low organic content, and 12 per cent of the EU’s land area suffers from water erosion.
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