EU Soil Strategy for 2030: Shaping sustainable future requires decisive and concerted action at EU and at global level

Following intense discussions at COP 26, and ahead of next year’s COP15 on Biodiversity, on 17 November the European Commission adopted three important proposals to review:

• The existing framework for waste shipment;
• To minimise the risk of deforestation associated with products placed on the EU market;
• To improve the quality of soils and ensure its capacity to function as carbon sinks;

EU Soil Strategy for 2030: Summaries of the 3 proposals

Last week, the European Parliament adopted in plenary the new  Common Agriculture Policy  (CAP) legislative framework that the Council is expected to adopt early December, paving the way for the new CAP entering into force in 2023, after the adoption of the national strategic plans by the Commission. The new CAP is the most social and green CAP ever and will make €242 billion available for the period 2023-2027 to shift towards a more resilient and greener agriculture in the EU. 

The EP, the Commission and the Council also adopted a Joint Statement on the application of EU health and environmental standards to import agricultural goods. This Joint Statement is crucially important as it reflects the need to balance well the internal and external dimension of EU policies. The statement calls for “(…) import tolerance for pesticides to be kept under review (…) including (…) substances that are no longer approved in the EU (..).” and recognises the need to engaging proactively at multilateral level. The statement calls also for more international cooperation to improve global food security.

The role of the proposed Soil Strategy in the EU and in the global context 

When announcing the Strategy, VP Timmermans stated that ”The thin layer that lies below our feet is literally the basis for our existence. It is the foundation for 95% of the food we eat. Soil is a living ecosystem that is key for life on the planet and that holds our future.”  For the Commission, the lack of an overarching framework granting soil the same level of protection as water, marine environment, and air, is a major policy gap contributing to the current bad health of soils in the EU. 

As soils host more than 25% of the biodiversity and are the largest terrestrial carbon pool on the planet, protecting and improving soil health in the EU will also help in addressing global challenges such as climate mitigation/adaptation, protecting biodiversity and preserving water resources. In view of this crucial role, it is therefore expected that key elements of this Strategy will be incorporated in the forthcoming communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles to be published on 14 December 2021.

Unlike recently published communications such as the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Soil Strategy does not include a comprehensive set of targets for soil protection and management. This is partly due to the fact that not enough is known about soils and biodiversity.

The strategy aims therefore to fill this policy gap by sketching out a complex framework of voluntary and legally binding measures. The key piece of legislation foreseen by this communication is a comprehensive legislative proposal on soil health by 2023.

Unlike recently published communications such as the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Soil Strategy does not include a comprehensive set of targets for soil protection and management. This is partly due to the fact that not enough is known about soils and biodiversity. The Commission therefore is proposing the creation of a Green Deal dataspace and the implementation of the Horizon Europe Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe”.

This science-based work on data will be crucial to ensure an evidence-based policy making process including to reach a global agreement on soils protection. The international community needs to agree on a common set of definitions, targets and indicators to ensure a fair burden-sharing and a level-playing field. Commissioner Sinkevičius recalled the EU’s determination to continue playing a leading role to drive a more ambitious post-2020 Global Biodiversity framework (to be adopted at COP15) that includes a plan of action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Soil Biodiversity. 

This science-based work on data will be crucial to ensure an evidence-based policy making process including to reach a global agreement on soils protection. The international community needs to agree on a common set of definitions, targets and indicators to ensure a fair burden-sharing and a level-playing field. 

The Strategy is an important initiative undertaken by the Commission, but it is also a sensitive and complex topic both from the substance and competences points of view. While the Commission is keen to recall the EP’s support for action at EU level (EP’s resolution of 28 April 2021), a comprehensive action at EU level should not  be taken for granted. The Commission had indeed to withdraw in 2014 its proposal for a directive due to Member State reluctance to legislate in this area.

The Commission is therefore making an effort to avoid a similar outcome by committing to carry out thorough consultations, a subsidiarity check and by fully respecting the competences of Member States.  However, as we have seen with the adoption on Monday 15 November of the Council Conclusions on The EU Forest Strategy, following a strict interpretation of the subsidiary principle, Member States will certainly be requesting the Commission to prove the need and value added of taking action at EU level and to avoid duplications.

While Member States are keen to reduce the administrative burden on stakeholders, they will certainly welcome the Commission’s intention to mobilise actors from the food value chain and the call to private funding to reward farmers for carbon captured and sustainable soil management practices. 

Serious attention will have to be devoted to ensuring thorough stakeholders’ consultations. Because of the complexity of the issues at stake, those consultations and impact assessments will need to be well prepared in order to deliver meaningful contributions and to avoid unintended negative consequences. Stakeholders should be ready to engage and contribute actively to such intense discussions with science-based data and willingness to contribute to such important objectives. 

 – Written by Ana Lodoño Botero & Angel Carro