Soil Framework Directive

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The Soil Framework Directive was a planned directive of the European Union to regulate soil protection law , through which the increasing soil degradation in the EU member states should be reduced. The directive was not adopted.

The European Commission presented the proposal for the Soil Framework Directive - together with its "Thematic Soil Protection Strategy" - on September 22, 2006 .

According to the Commission proposal from 2006, the full title is the Soil Framework Directive "of the European Parliament and Council directive establishing a framework for soil protection " (English. Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council Establishing a framework for the protection of soil ) .

On May 21, 2014 the European Commission withdrew all drafts and proposals for the Soil Protection Directive. Previously, there had been long discussions between the member states and the European Parliament about the planned content of the regulations, on which no agreement could be reached.

Development of the European soil protection law

As early as 1972 the Council of Europe had taken on an international pioneering role with regard to soil protection and formulated principles for the protection of soil from soil threats in the European Soil Charter .

In 2002, in view of the importance of the soil and the need to prevent further deterioration in soil quality, the development of seven environmental protection strategies was established in the sixth environmental action program of the European Community . One of these strategies is the "Thematic Soil Protection Strategy". The protection of natural resources and the promotion of sustainable land use are among the essential goals of the action program. On the basis of the action program, the EU Commission announced in its communication “Towards a specific soil protection strategy” in the same year that it would further develop the political commitment to soil protection, enable more comprehensive and systematic soil protection and present a proposal for a Soil Framework Directive.

Subsequently, however, the submission of the draft soil framework directive met with considerable opposition , thanks to massive impact, in particular from the agricultural lobby . The Environment Directorate-General (ENV) nonetheless pushed through the submission of the final version of the Thematic Strategy and the proposal for a "Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council" in the Commission in September 2006 after the failure of two preliminary drafts in January and May 2006 .

The European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions subsequently approved the draft Soil Framework Directive (BRRL) by a majority. A decision is still pending in the European Council (as of September 2008), as the first attempt at coordination was prevented by opponents of a Europe-wide soil protection regulation in the Council meeting on December 20, 2007. The project was supported by 21 member states at the meeting, but the representatives of the member states Germany , the United Kingdom , the Netherlands , Austria and, to a limited extent, France blocked an agreement. The Soil Framework Directive therefore remains on the political agenda of the Council, the decision has only been suspended.

Until the directive has been adopted, soil protection is not yet the subject of an independent soil protection law at European level , but rather only partially regulated by special directives that only concern individual problems of soil protection, such as the Nitrates Directive .

In addition, development policy for rural areas has already led to the inclusion of soil protection aspects in the reformed Common Agricultural Policy . The connection of direct payments from the EU to farmers with environmental protection requirements in European agricultural law has proven to be essential for the implementation of a more soil-friendly agricultural practice . However, these measures are not always compulsory and only apply to those farmers who are actually recipients of direct payments. As a result, “ cross compliance ” only partially contributes to compliance with environmental law and thus to the preservation of soil quality and sustainable use of the soil.

Regulatory sovereignty of the EU

Article 191 (ex-Article 174) of the EC Treaty (EC Treaty), according to Paragraph 1 of which the environmental policy of the Community contributes to the pursuit of the following objectives, is fundamental for the European Community's authority to regulate soil protection :

Policy objectives

Despite global warming and the associated risks, the sustainability requirement in an important area of environmental protection , soil protection, has not yet been adequately implemented at European level. However, the diverse and sometimes acute threats to the soil and groundwater must be dealt with professionally and administratively. With the help of the soil protection strategy of the European Commission and the Soil Framework Directive, a contribution to global climate protection is also to be made. In addition, the national soil protection law is to be harmonized.

Soil protection

The Soil Framework Directive tries to implement the principle of sustainability in the area of soil protection . The basic objectives of the BRRL follow general soil protection requirements: avoidance of further deterioration in soil quality , preservation of soil functions and restoration of damaged soils, the latter from a functional point of view and cost consideration. This means, among other things, protection of the soil from erosion , compaction , salinisation , acidification , loss of organic substances and from pollution ( pollution ). Contaminated sites , to which the existing German soil protection law pays particular attention, are among the most serious pollutant threats to the soil .

In German environmental policy , the threat to the soil from overbuilding is preferred. The area surrounding the cities and municipalities is particularly affected by the ongoing sealing of land , even though there is a large amount of fallow land (formerly built-up land) available for land recycling . In addition, in the last few decades the soils have been and are being used in agriculture to produce ever larger quantities of biomass with an enormous amount of technology and energy . With regard to the energy crop boom, this will continue. The load capacities have already been significantly exceeded. Not only the land requirement and the demands on the quality of the soil are highest in agricultural land use, but also the loss of substance and quality. Since 1994 at the latest, various committees and experts have been clearly pointing out the resulting problems (erosion, reduction in groundwater and surface water quality, reduction in soil fertility). The booming “bio-energy crop cultivation sector” exacerbates the problem, as in addition to the competition for land with food production, the increase in one-sided cultivation of v. a. of silage maize worsens the precarious humus balance and the health of the soil even more. Genetic engineering and the introduction of novel substances with its help cause a further threat to the soil . The risk here is that the exchange of genetic material between the genetically modified plants and the species occurring at the site will lead to a change in the ecological resources, in particular the species and their services.

Water protection

As demonstrated in the “thematic soil protection strategy”, the soil is at considerable risk, so that sovereign action is urgently required. One of the most important functions of soil is to protect water .

Compaction and sealing of the soil reduces its storage capacity and permeability and reduces the formation of new groundwater . This is particularly important from the point of view of water extraction , because in Germany, for example, 65% of drinking water is obtained from groundwater . So soil protection is always also water protection.

controversy

In the controversial discussion, the opponents of the European initiative claimed that the measures and instruments provided for in the Soil Framework Directive, in particular the "risk area approach", did not advance the protection of soil in Europe, did not lead to an improvement in precautions against soil deterioration, hampered agriculture , endangered the economic development of the community and encouraged increasing bureaucratic centralization.

The European Commission has opposed this and pointed out that it should be taken into account that so far only fewer than a dozen Member States in the enlarged Community have pursued any form of soil protection policy at all at national level. The large differences between the national soil protection regulations (most of which do not exist or are otherwise inadequate) mean that economic operators are confronted with very different obligations.

German professional associations such as the Ingenieurtechnischer Verband Altlasten (ITVA), the Federal Soil Association and the BUND unanimously welcomed both the soil protection strategy and the BRRL draft. Also the soil Alliance of European Cities, counties and municipalities ( European Land and Soil Alliance ELSA) welcomed the draft directive and urged a decision in 2007 blocking governments (u. A. The German government) on to reconsider their position.

Risk area approach

The "risk area approach" in soil protection is an innovation, with the help of which the sustainability requirement is operationalized and precautions are taken against current soil threats. The corresponding soil threats are explained in detail in the "thematic soil protection strategy" of the European Commission.

In the environmental law of the European member states - insofar as there are regulations specific to soil protection - there is no such precautionary instrument with regard to current hazards. The corresponding provisions of the Soil Framework Directive would therefore mean that all member states - including the majority of those in which there is currently no soil protection law at all - would have to take soil protection measures at least in the designated “risk areas”.

Individual references / comments

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Umweltbundesamt.de: EU Soil Framework Directive - BRRL. Assessment of national requirements and possible disadvantages. ( Memento of March 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) As of April 17, 2008
  2. ↑ a b c bodenbuendnis.org: The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection is available. ( Memento of July 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.4 MB) local land & soil news. Issue No. 18/19. September 2006. p. 7.
  3. ↑ ec.europa.eu: Commission renounces the Soil Protection Directive
  4. ↑ Euro Europe: European Soil Charter. Resolution 72/19 of the Committee of Ministers, 1972. ( online version at hypersoil.uni-muenster.de)
  5. ↑ Decision 1600/2002 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 22, 2002 on the sixth European Community Environment Action Program (OJ L 242 of September 10, 2002, p. 1)
  6. ↑ Commission of the European Communities: Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Towards a specific soil protection strategy. COM (2002) 179, final of 16 April 2002, Brussels, p. 1 ff.
  7. ^ Walter Bückmann, Yeong Heui Lee: New hopes for soil protection. In: Environmental and Planning Law. 10/2005, p. 370 ff.
  8. ↑ See for example the position paper of the general association of agricultural cooperatives of the EU on a land policy for Europe, Brussels 2005
  9. ↑ Cf. Walter Bückmann: Quo vadis, European soil protection? On the working draft of a European Soil Framework Directive. In: Environmental and Planning Law. 2006, p. 210 ff; Walter Bückmann: The second draft of a European soil framework directive. In: Environmental and Planning Law. 2006, p. 365 ff.
  10. ↑ Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Thematic strategy for soil protection. of 22 September 2006 COM (2006) 231 final
  11. ↑ Irene Heuser: European soil protection law. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin, 2005. ISBN 978-3-503-08700-6 . P. 103 ff; Walter Bückmann, Yeong Heui Lee, St. Mitschang, G. Schmidt-Eichstaedt: Soil protection in the member states of the European Union. In: Environmental and Planning Law. 2007, issue 11/12, p. 420 ff.
  12. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 of the Council of 29 September 2003 with rules for direct payments within the framework of the common agricultural policy and with certain support schemes for owners of agricultural holdings and amending Regulation (EEC) No. . 2019/93, (EC) No. 1452/2001, EC regulation 1782/2003 and other regulations from September 29, 2002. Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Regulation provides that the Member States ensure that all agricultural land, in particular that which is no longer used for production, is maintained in good agricultural and ecological condition.
  13. ↑ a b ( page no longer available , search in web archives: Reader for the international symposium: "European soil protection - key issues of sustainable European soil protection" on January 21 and 22, 2008 in Berlin. ) (PDF; 419 kB) p. 4@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / home.arcor.de
  14. ↑ European Commission: Comments from the European Commission on an opinion [Kom (2006) 232] of the Federal Council of April 18, 2007. Printed matter 265/07 of April 19, 2007.
  15. ↑ itv-altlasten.de: ITVA opinion on the EU Commission's proposal for a Soil Framework Directive. ( Memento from July 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 86 kB) ITVA, Berlin, February 7, 2007.
  16. ↑ bvboden.de: The BVB on the proposal of the European Commission for a "Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection". (PDF; 13 kB) Press release, Marburg, 2006.
  17. ↑ bund.net: BUND statement on the EU Soil Framework Directive. EU commission wants to regulate soil protection - BUND criticizes environment ministers of the federal states. ( Memento of July 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 67 kB) Berlin, December 2006.
  18. ↑ Walter Bückmann, Yeong Heui Lee: Key issues of sustainable European soil protection . In: Nature and Law . No. 30 , February 2, 2008, p. 12 , doi : 10.1007 / s10357-007-1401-0 .
  19. ↑ bodenbuendnis.org: Federal government wants to prevent European guidelines on soil protection. ( Memento from January 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 120 kB) Press release, Osnabrück, December 16, 2007.

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