EU Soil Strategy and regulation of soil health

The European Commission published the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 in December 2021. The aim of the Strategy is to achieve good soil health by 2050. According to the Commission, 60 to 70 per cent of the soil in the EU is not healthy, which is why the focus should be placed on raising the level of soil protection.

The EU Soil Strategy aims to ensure that by 2050:

  • all soil ecosystems in the EU are healthy and more resilient and can thus provide their vital services in future as well.
  • there is no net land take, i.e. new land is no longer taken into use, and soil pollution has fallen to a level at which it no longer causes harm to human health or ecosystems.
  • protection and sustainable management of soils and restoration of degraded soils have become common practices.

As part of the implementation of the Strategy, the Commission published a proposal for a directive on soil monitoring and resilience (Soil Monitoring Law) in July 2023. The proposal is part of the European Green Deal.

The proposed directive aims to improve the monitoring of the state of soils, promote measures to improve the state of soils, have more data and information about contaminated sites, and reduce the risks arising from contamination. The proposal for the directive is being negotiated under the codecision procedure. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union may propose changes, or amendments, to the Commission’s proposal. The negotiations started in Brussels in autumn 2023. Finland’s position for the negotiations was published in October 2023. 

The proposal will be negotiated under the codecision procedure. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union may propose changes, or amendments, to the Commission’s proposal for a directive. The negotiations will begin in Brussels this autumn. Finland's position on the proposal will be published in September.

The common position of the EU Member States was adopted at the Environment Council on 17 June 2024. 

The position of the European Parliament on the proposal was published in April 2024. 

Trilogue negotiations between the Member States, European Commission and European Parliament will be started in autumn 2024. 

Report on state of soils in Finland published

In summer 2023, the Ministry of the Environment published a report that contains information on the current state of soils in Finland and its monitoring. The ‘MaaTieto’ report examines the state of the soil in arable and forest lands, mires and urban and built-up areas, and soil contamination as a separate theme.

The report was drawn by the Finnish Environment Institute, Natural Resources Institute Finland and Geological Survey of Finland. It supports the preparations for the negotiations on the Soil Monitoring Directive with the other EU Member States.

Learn more

Inquiries:

Paula Perälä
Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of the Environment
tel. +358 295 250 224 
[email protected]