Withdrawal of European Soil Framework Directive: Reasons and Recommendations

Abstract

The European Soil Framework Directive was the first policy approach of soil protection at the European level. It had an objective to protect soils across Europe and maintain the sustainability of soil functions. Notwithstanding the significance of the directive along with both the current state and the trend of the soil in Europe were negative, it had been strongly blocked by five member states of the European Union since it was adopted in 2006, encompassing the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Austria. The proposal was withdrawn formally on 21 May 2014 by the European Commission without any official statement of reasons. Consequently, this study aimed at the reasons for the withdrawal and the amendments to the directive, which contributed to restoring its role in soil conservation. It ascertained the reasons and proved some recommendations principally via a deductive approach and qualitative research. The results demonstrated that the resistance of the five main blocking countries was the direct factor in the withdrawal. Behind the statements of opponents, financial difficulties and political issues were the possible underlying reasons. Hence, the European Commission could arrange more meetings and change some provisions to eliminate the misunderstanding with its member states. On the other hand, it is sensible for the opponents to be more flexible to deal with the directive, for instance, establishing the benefits from the articles as well as more approaches for solving the problem of financial shortage.

Challenges of and opportunities for protecting European soil biodiversity

“…Past EU soil protection policy, mainly targeting soil erosion and pollution, was also represented in the Soil Framework Directive (COM[2006] 232), proposed as part of the Thematic Strategy of Soil Protection (COM[2006] 231). This directive would have been an important step for soil preservation in Europe, but it was consistently blocked by the member states and withdrawn in 2014 (EC, 2014; Chen, 2019).…”

“…For example, until 2010, the European Union focused almost exclusively on soil contamination in the broad- [2006] 231). This directive would have been an important step for soil preservation in Europe, but it was consistently blocked by the member states and withdrawn in 2014 (EC, 2014;Chen, 2019).…”

The impact of direct democracy on policy change: insights from European citizens’ initiatives

“…People4Soil did not come up with these policy demands itself but took them from the Commission's proposal for a European Soil Framework Directive that it withdrew in May 2014. The literature argues that one of the reasons for the Commission's withdrawal of the proposal was strong opposition by the governments of Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (Chen, 2019). The ECI organisers wanted to revive the Commission's proposal, but they failed to present the necessary number of signatures by the end of the collection period in September 2017 and therefore their call for soil protection remained unheard, at least at that time.…”

Forty years of soil research funded by the European Commission: Trends and future. A systematic review of research projects

“…The Soil Thematic Strategy consisted of a Communication from the Commission, a proposal for a framework directive (a European law), and an Impact Assessment. However, the proposal for a framework directive was blocked by five EU member states and withdrawn formally in 2014 (Chen, 2020; Panagos & Montanarella, 2018).…”