Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Protection of Soil: Does the European Union Live Up to Its Own Ambitions?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2016

Part of the book series: International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy ((IYSLP,volume 2016))

Abstract

The European Union boasts a rather comprehensive set of environmental protection rules. However, despite various soil degradation issues in Europe, the environmental acquis does not contain a dedicated legal act on soil protection. The Commission in 2006 published a proposal for a Soil Framework Directive to close this gap, but finally withdrew this proposal in 2014 in the face of a political impasse due to lasting objections of some Member States. In this article, the authors show that, on the one hand, there are quite a few provisions in the current European environmental protection legislation that partially contribute to soil protection. On the other hand, these rules are either not ambitious (e.g. in the environmental aspects of the Common Agricultural Policy and in product standard rules), or cover only certain sectors or activities (e.g. in the industrial emissions or waste management legislation). The failed proposal for a Soil Framework Directive could have provided for a harmonization of standards for the assessment of soil degradation. It envisaged a comprehensive diagnosis of soil degradation and of contaminated sites at Member State level and to set a timetable for appropriate responses. Today, the idea of a common approach to preserve Europe’s soil resources is taken forward on the background of the EU’s 7th Environmental Action Programme and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Official Journal C 326, 26/10/2012, p. 1.

  2. 2.

    Official Journal C 326, 26/10/2012, p. 47.

  3. 3.

    According to the Soil Thematic Strategy (COM(2006)231 final, p. 2), “soil is generally defined as the top layer of the earth’s crust, formed by mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms. It is the interface between earth, air and water and hosts most of the biosphere.”

  4. 4.

    The contents and context of this proposal will be examined in detail in Sect. 3 of this article.

  5. 5.

    COM(2006)231 final of 22.09.2006, p. 7.

  6. 6.

    European Environment Agency (2015).

  7. 7.

    Joint Research Center (2012).

  8. 8.

    Fenn et al (2014).

  9. 9.

    DEFRA (2009), p. 11.

  10. 10.

    Trezzini et al (2013).

  11. 11.

    UNCCD, 2001—The purpose of this Annex is to provide guidelines and arrangements for the effective implementation of the Convention in affected country Parties of the Central and Eastern European region, in the light of its particular conditions.

  12. 12.

    As a very dynamic system soil performs multiple functions and delivers services vital to human activities and to the survival of ecosystems: biomass production, storing, filtering and transforming nutrients and water, hosting the biodiversity pool and acting as a habitat, serving as a platform for most human activities, providing raw materials, acting as a carbon pool and storing the geological and archaeological heritage.

  13. 13.

    European Commission (2015a), ch. 1.

  14. 14.

    Now the TFEU.

  15. 15.

    For the sake of convenience, all references to the European treaties cite the provisions of the current version of the treaties after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.

  16. 16.

    European Parliament (2016).

  17. 17.

    Tangermann and von Cramon-Taubadel (2013), p. 17; Zobbe (2001), pp. 4–5.

  18. 18.

    Delayen (2007), p. 1.

  19. 19.

    The basic document of this reform is Commission Communication C0M(91) 100 final: “The development and future of the CAP—Reflections paper of the Commission”.

  20. 20.

    Lee (2006), p. 73.

  21. 21.

    Epiney (2015), margin number 26.

  22. 22.

    The placing on the market of fertilisers has been regulated on the basis of the internal market competence of the Union.

  23. 23.

    Bulletin of the EU, Supplement 5/97, p. 26.

  24. 24.

    European Commission (2015b).

  25. 25.

    European Commission (2015b).

  26. 26.

    European Commission (2015c).

  27. 27.

    European Commission (2015d).

  28. 28.

    See Sect. 2.2 and 2.3.

  29. 29.

    European Commission (2015e).

  30. 30.

    Nettesheim (2015), margin number 2.

  31. 31.

    Maletić (2013), p. 19.

  32. 32.

    COM (2016) 157.

  33. 33.

    COM (2016) 157, p. 3.

  34. 34.

    COM (2016) 157, p. 6.

  35. 35.

    Sanden (2016).

  36. 36.

    European Commission (2015f).

  37. 37.

    Sanden (2016).

  38. 38.

    United Nations (2015), p. 24.

  39. 39.

    Nettesheim (2015), margin number 3.

  40. 40.

    Altvater et al. (2015), p. 28.

  41. 41.

    European Commission (2015g).

  42. 42.

    Altvater et al. (2015), p. 30.

  43. 43.

    European Commission (2015h).

  44. 44.

    Altvater et al. (2015), p. 36.

  45. 45.

    European Commission (2015i).

  46. 46.

    United Nations (2012), p. 40.

  47. 47.

    Altvater et al. (2015), p. 36. For further details on the establishment of an ecological network of special areas of conservation (NATURA 2000) and soil-relevant conservation measures see Heuser (2005), p. 198 ff.

  48. 48.

    COM(2006) 231.

  49. 49.

    OJ L 242, 10.9.2002.

  50. 50.

    COM(2006) 231.

  51. 51.

    COM(2006) 232.

  52. 52.

    SEC (2006) 1165 and SEC(2006) 620.

  53. 53.

    Soil degradation or soil improvements have a major impact on other areas of Community interest, such as surface water and groundwater protection, human health, climate change, protection of nature and biodiversity, and food safety.

  54. 54.

    Framework directives, in the parlance of the EU, are directives that leave the implementation of detailed rules to subsequent European legal acts or to the Member States.

  55. 55.

    Brownfields are often abandoned, closed or under-used industrial or commercial facilities; redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by real or perceived contamination problems. They can be found both in developed urban areas and in the countryside. It requires intervention to bring them back to beneficial use in order to make them part of the land use cycle—promoting land use efficiency.

  56. 56.

    OJ C 153 of 21 May 2014 and corrigendum in OJ C 163 of 28 May 2014.

  57. 57.

    COM (2011) 571.

  58. 58.

    SWD (2012) 101 final/2.

  59. 59.

    COM(2012) 46.

  60. 60.

    The policy report has been supplemented by a reference report ‘The State of Soil in Europe’ of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre providing a comprehensive overview of our present understanding of soil resources and degradation processes. It has been published in collaboration with the European Environment Agency and is a contribution to the Environment State and Outlook report—SOER 2010.

  61. 61.

    European Commission (2015j).

  62. 62.

    United Nations (2012), p. 40.

  63. 63.

    Paragraph 206: “We recognize the need for urgent action to reverse land degradation. In view of this, we will strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world in the context of sustainable development. This should act to catalyse financial resources from a range of public and private sources.”

  64. 64.

    United Nations (2015), p. 24.

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division “Soil Conservation and Resource Efficiency Legislation, Mining Legislation”, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Bonn, Germany

    Markus Raffelsiefen

  2. Division “Soil Conservation and Management of Contaminated Sites”, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Bonn, Germany

    Thomas Strassburger

Authors
  1. Markus Raffelsiefen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas Strassburger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Strassburger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Environment Agency, Dessau, Germany

    Harald Ginzky

  2. IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, Deputy Chair of Specialist Group on Sustainable Soils and Desertification, Kleinmachnow, Germany

    Irene L. Heuser

  3. Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Tianbao Qin

  4. Faculty of Law, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Oliver C. Ruppel

  5. DG Environment, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium

    Patrick Wegerdt

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Raffelsiefen, M., Strassburger, T. (2017). The Protection of Soil: Does the European Union Live Up to Its Own Ambitions?. In: Ginzky, H., Heuser, I., Qin, T., Ruppel, O., Wegerdt, P. (eds) International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2016. International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy, vol 2016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42508-5_23

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42508-5_23

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42507-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42508-5

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation