EU Council adopts a more pragmatic position on the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Law
admin- The Soil Monitoring and Resilience Law General Approach has been approved in the Environment Council, with definitive changes to the fundamental structure of the proposal made by the European Commission in the Summer of 2023
Copa and Cogeca welcome the full removal of the “one-out, all-out” principle on the status of soil health, which was inherently unfair, unrealistic, and unrepresentative of the true reality of the state of soils, their historical uses, and the overall status of soil in a soil district.
A second welcomed change was the deletion of references to soil health certificates which will have huge implications for the land market if and when it is implemented unevenly across the Union, and in the voluntary format which was proposed.
Still, Copa and Cogeca regret the support of the Council on mandatory requirements for Member States through the Sustainable Soil Management Principles. We consider it essential to have flexibility at national level on this and consistency with CAP practices. In addition, any principles proposed should not restrict and ban certain practices and should not actively remove land from production. This should be limited to the provision of advisory services.
Copa and Cogeca look forward to seeing additional changes made to the final text in the trilogues in order to ensure that farmers and forest-owners are not adversely affected by these aspects.
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