Agriculture: European Court of Auditors criticizes the lack of soil protection in the EU

 

“Too much fertilizer and wrong management damage the soil. According to the European Court of Auditors, standards in the EU are "not particularly ambitious".

The European Court of Auditors has called for improvements in soil protection measures in the EU. According to a special report by the EU authority, the EU Commission and the member states did not make sufficient use of funds and legislative resources in the period 2014 to 2022. In it, the Court of Auditors also criticizes that standards in the EU are "often not particularly ambitious".

According to the report, 60 to 70 percent of the soil in Europe is in poor condition.

However, areas with particularly serious problems would have received only a small part of the support for green rural development. The ACA cites the case of Lower Saxony as an example: Germany reported a very high nitrogen surplus of 120 to 162 kilograms per hectare for the federal state in the years 2016 to 2019, but only provided one percent of the total budget to deal with this problem.

Consequences for water quality and biodiversity

The poor condition of the affected soils is due, among other things, to incorrect methods of soil management and excessive fertilization, the report goes on to say. This has a negative impact on water quality and the diversity of plants and animals. Germany, Ireland, Spain, France and the Netherlands were examined for the report.

The Court of Auditors does not expect any substantial changes as part of the EU's new common agricultural policy. Environmental regulations that farmers have to meet in order to receive EU subsidies often do not go far enough, The Court criticized. The poor condition must alarm the EU and prompt it to act so that the quality of the soil can improve again.

The EU has set a target of restoring all polluted soils by 2050. Last week, the EU Commission presented a new draft law on soil health, which is to be discussed by the EU states and Parliament in the coming months."