A Historic Moment for European Soils

Months of discussions and years of increased awareness over soil degradation have finally led to the formal adoption of the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive (SOIL MONITORING LAW)  by the European Parliament, the first law by the EU that is specifically focused on the protection and sustainable management of soils.

The vote, which took place in Strasbourg, listed the end of a process that started in 2023 with the proposal by the European Commission as a part of the EU Soil Strategy 2030 and as one of the objectives of the Green Deal in Zero Pollution. After rigorous consultation in the Member States, experts and civil society, the text was eventually adopted by a wide cross-party vote in October 2025.

The new Directive has become one of the pillars of the European environmental policy. It also seeks to ensure that by 2050, all European Union soils are in good health, and ensure that soil protection is in line with climate, biodiversity and water management objectives. In the first instance, Europe has the complete body of law, which regards soil not as a mere means of production but as a living ecosystem, which would hold the future of life on the planet.

A Major Step Towards Healthier Soils

It has been said that soil is the “skin of the Earth”, which is thin and fragile and vital. It sustains crops, cleanses water, controls the climate and accommodates more than a quarter of all biodiversity on the earth. But it has been the silent victim of Europe: the European Environment Agency found out that between 60 and 70 percent of EU soils are poor because of erosion, contamination, compaction and deterioration of the organic content. The new Directive is going to counter this tendency. The EU is making bold moves toward preventing, monitoring, and restoring soils by establishing a single system to end the degradation process, enhancing the fertility of the soil, and ensuring the numerous ecosystem services that soils would offer.

A Common Language for Soil Health

The formulation of a shared definition of soil health in the European Union is one of the greatest accomplishments of the Directive. This is a common set of harmonized indicators that entail physical, chemical, and biological aspects of soil. Such indicators will measure aspects like organic carbon content, nutrient balance, contamination, erosion, biodiversity, compaction as well as salinization. Member States must oversee these aspects in a systematic way and report the outcome with standardized European approaches, which guarantee that data can be compared and coherent across countries.

To organize these activities, the European Soil Observatory (EUSO) will serve as a hub, receiving data collected by national networks, and providing data to the public to facilitate science, policy and engagement of the citizens.

Strengthening the LUCAS Soils Programme

The Directive also assigns a new significance to the LUCAS Soils survey which is the long-running EU soil sampling program. This programme that has gathered samples of thousands over the last 20 years will now be increased and enhanced in order to help the Member States establish their national monitoring networks. LUCAS Soils will be the scientific foundation of the new framework and will help to create a pan-European soil health map integrating field sampling, laboratory analysis, and digital monitoring. It is aimed at giving an easy to understand picture of the state of the European soil and its transformation with time.

Just like the LUCAS Soils programme, our data are open-access . At DeepHorizon, we are committed to ensuring that all project data are FAIR. Having completed the first version of our Data Management Plan, currently we are developing a replicable data management architecture that will enable transparent and open access to information, comparable to LUCAS. To achieve this, we are working closely with EUSO and SoilWise to guarantee full interoperability and allow third parties to use and build upon our data.

Support, Not Sanctions

More importantly, the Directive specifies that farmers and foresters will not experience fresh obligations and punishment. Member States should instead train, advise and give financial incentives to encourage voluntary changes in the management of soil.

This strategy represents a change in philosophy – control to cooperation. The legislation is meant to empower the land working people since they are considered vital partners in combating land degradation.

When the rapporteur of the Parliament was explaining the final vote it was believed that farmers would be supported, guided and provided with knowledge without any additional paperwork. Good transformations into healthy soil translate to good harvests and sustainable future of everybody.

Contamination Under the Microscope

Another threat to the environmental and human health that was addressed by the Directive is the soil contamination / pollution. Member States need to determine, list, and make publicly available a list of the potentially contaminated sites within a period of ten years. The principle will be applied in the polluter pays where the responsibility of the contamination will be paid by remediation costs.

Moreover, in eighteen months, a watchlist of the newly discovered pollutants will be created by the European Commission, including PFAS (so-called forever chemicals), persistent pesticides, and microplastics – materials that may take decades to decompose and may harm food safety and ecology.

Research, Innovation, and Living Labs

The Directive too invests in knowledge. It specifically encourages research, innovation, and digital infrastructure to enhance the evaluation and administration of soil.

It aids the creation of Living Labs and Lighthouses – participatory places where farmers, scientists, and communities can establish sustainable land management practices in practice and environments. Such experimental environments will be important to translate the information into actionable practice and generalize effective methods.

Also, the legislation is in line with Horizon Europe programmes and promotes on the application of FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable), whereby soil information is shared effectively across borders.

What This Law Means for Subsoils: A Boost for Projects Like DeepHorizon Project

The Directive doesn’t focus solely on the soil surface but recognizes that what is beneath it is even more essential. This is where the water, nutrients and carbon are stored and the foundations of the ecosystem resilience are carried out.

Subsurface processes have been poorly researched and monitored way too long. The Directive currently explicitly demands a more combined comprehension of soil and subsoil interactions, thereby providing novel possibilities of high-level modelling, long-term monitoring, and technology.

The projects such as the DeepHorizon are at the forefront of this frontier. Incorporating a 3D model, artificial intelligence analysis, and sensor technologies, DeepHorizon examines the processes of the deeper horizons of soil changing depending on the environmental and human forces. This type of research is strongly supported by the new Directive, which is in line with the policy.

According to the authors of DeepHorizon: the work with the earth starts with the knowledge of what is not visible in our eyes. The Directive makes that understanding into the policy, providing Europe and the world with a path towards sustainable land stewardship.

A Transformation Beneath Our Feet

Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive is not only a law, but also a cultural and political breakthrough. This is the first time that the soil is the same category priority as both air and water as well in the European environmental law.

Its adoption will make Europe resilient to climate change, improve biodiversity and obtain food security to future generations. Yet, it is not limited only to Europe and the problem, to which the knowledge and systems developed in this region can be applied, is the issue of soil degradation as a global crisis that can be addressed through collaboration.

Europe is changing its relation to the land by hearing what is going on underneath the surface. It is a kind of a civic duty, and yet a civic hope, to acknowledge that the land beneath our feet is not lifeless and to understand that by safeguarding it, we are safeguarding our own future.