The European Commission has recently unveiled its Proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience, aimed at addressing soil health, sustainable management, and remediation of contaminated sites. A critical review by SERE raises deep concerns about the proposal’s adequacy and effectiveness of its goals.

Critical Analysis by the European Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (PDF)

The European Commission takes a first step in the right direction by building up soil monitoring capacities. However, the proposal falls short of expectations, especially after the failure of the Soil Framework Directive of 2006, which was withdrawn in 2014. Effective legal instruments are still missing. The proposed directive leaves many threats to soil unaddressed and is not sufficiently ambitious to prevent European soils from further degradation.