ECOS has long advocated for ecodesign principles to apply broadly across products and sectors. This month, the first working plan for the ESPR was published, bringing us one step closer. These new ecodesign rules will eventually apply to almost all products sold on the EU market, but we are only at the beginning of a lengthy implementation process. We will continue to push for the most ambitious implementation.
Press release | At 4:30 on Thursday morning, EU institutions reached a provisional agreement on the long-awaited, and first-ever, EU legislative framework for soils: the Soil Monitoring Law. However, the deal falls short of what is urgently needed, environmental NGOs warn.
The first EU Soil Monitoring Law is a timid but vital step towards addressing soil degradation - but without fast, decisive, and coordinated action the situation will only worsen. In this joint letter, ECOS writes to negotiators ahead of the final scheduled political trilogue emphasising, once again, the urgent need for an ambitious agreement on the first ever EU law on soils - setting the course for healthy soils across Europe by 2050.
Amidst negotiations on the EU Soil Monitoring Law, we've joined other environmental organisations to highlight the urgent issue of soil degradation in Europe. In a summary of our key recommendations, we collectively urge the EU institutions to strive towards the most ambitious law possible and set the course towards achieving healthy soils across Europe by 2050.
Currently, over 60% of soils are undergoing degradation processes. One of the major causes of this is the lack of a dedicated EU legislative framework. Read our 10 key policy recommendations for the upcoming trilogue negotiations on the Soil Monitoring Law.
In this joint briefing we highlight the critical role that healthy soils play in supporting ecosystems, society and the economy, their degraded state, and the urgent need for robust EU soil governance, specifically an ambitious Soil Monitoring Law and a roadmap for the implementation of the EU Soil Strategy for 2030. Along with other diverse environmental organisations, we are advocating for ambitious EU soil governance.
The European Parliament has voted to water down the proposed Soil Monitoring Law [1], undermining efforts to unlock the environmental and health benefits of soils for EU citizens. With the first dedicated EU law to address soil health, MEPs could have cleared the path for an ambitious text, but they planted weeds instead.
ECOS welcomes the proposal for a Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience - a crucial step to protect soil and the life-sustaining ecosystem services it provides. A law protecting and restoring soils is needed to achieve the European Green Deal objectives. The current proposal leaves room for improvement and we call on policymakers to implement tangible changes that will increase the ambition and robustness of this long-awaited legislation.
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Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EISMEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
