Photo: Aurore Martignoni/ EC
The European Commission is proposing that soils are given the same legal status as air and water as part of the EU’s “Soil Strategy for 2030”. The plan, which still requires the approval of the European Parliament and EU member states, would create the first European regulation to allow legal actions over soil degradation.
Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, tweeted: “Our land and soil are precious. Too often, for too long, they have been overlooked. Over 75% of land is already degraded. Let’s remember that the ground we walk on is the very thing that keeps us walking at all.”
Virginijus Sinkevicius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, said: “we must equip the EU with a robust soil policy that will allow us to reach our ambitious climate, biodiversity and food security goals, and step up our efforts to manage soil in a way that it can deliver for people, biodiversity and climate.”
EU member states blocked an attempt to create a European legal framework for soil protection in the European Council ten years ago, Euractiv recalls.
Source: EU Soil strategy proposal, Euractiv, EC Press release
No candidate received a majority of votes in the first round of the Presidential elections…
Hungary will focus on key issues for central Europe during its upcoming EU presidency, Hungarian…
US nuclear firm Westinghouse Electric Company has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with 17 Bulgarian…
By 2030 Artificial Intelligence could be contributing as much as 11.5%, or USD 700bn (EUR…
Lithuania had the lowest annual inflation rate of 0.4% in the EU in March 2024,…
Lithuania will hold a constitutional referendum on whether its citizens can hold dual and multiple…