32 Amendments of Daniela RONDINELLI related to 2023/0232(COD)
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) The EU Soil Strategy for 2030 sets the long-term vision that by 2050, all EU soil ecosystems are in healthy condition and are thus more resilient. As a key solution, healthy soils contribute to address the EU’s goals of achieving climate neutrality and becoming resilient to climate change, developing a clean and circular (bio)economy, reversing biodiversity loss, safeguarding human health, halting desertification and reversing land degradation. Agriculture already makes a fundamental contribution to protecting soil health and preserving the landscape and biodiversity. Moreover, the multidimensional role played by agriculture offers additional positive externalities for regions, helping to keep rural communities alive and enhancing our environmental and ecosystem-related heritage.
Amendment 72 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Funding is vital to enable a transition to healthy soils. The Multiannual Financial Framework presents several funding opportunities available for the protection, sustainable management and regeneration of soils. A ‘Soil Deal for Europe’ is one of the five EU missions of the Horizon Europe programme and is specifically dedicated to promoting soil health. The Soil Mission is a key instrument for the implementation of this Directive. It aims to lead the transition to healthy soils through funding an ambitious research and innovation programme, establishing a network of 100 living labs and lighthouses in rural and urban areas, advancing the development of a harmonized soil monitoring framework and increasing the awareness of the importance of soil. Other Union programmes that present objectives contributing to healthy soils are the Common Agricultural Policy, the Cohesion Policy funds, the Programme for Environment and Climate Action, the Horizon Europe work programme, the Technical Support Instrument, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and InvestEU. The measures set out under the above-mentioned programmes, and especially the ambitious reinforced commitments already planned as part of the Common Agricultural Policy for 2023-2027, are sufficient to achieve these goals. Any further efforts to be made by farmers will have to be adequately financed by additional resources.
Amendment 119 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) In order to describe soil degradation it is necessary to establish soil descriptors that can be measured or estimated. Even if there is significant variability between soil types, climatic conditions and land uses, the current scientific knowledge allows to set criteria at Union level for some of those soil descriptors. However, Member States should be able to adapt the criteria for some of these soil descriptors based on specific national or local conditions and define the criteria for other soil descriptors for which common criteria at EU level cannot be established at this stage. For thosThe descriptors for which clear criteria that would distinguish between healthy and unhealthy condition cannot be identified now, only monitoring and assessmeshould therefore enable a comprehensive and realistic assessment to be made of the ecological state of the soil, taking into account, are required. This will facilitate the development of such criteria in futuremong other things, the presence of degradation factors and soil functions.
Amendment 126 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) Soil is a limited resource subject to an ever-growing competition for different uses. Natural land, semi-natural land, productive agricultural land or artificial land provide different functions in the ecosystem or give rise to differences in the quantity and quality of these functions. Land use change, namely the passing of land from one use to another, leads to inevitable changes in the characteristics of supply to the ecosystem and the health of the soil. Land take is a process often driven by economic development needs, that transforms natural and semi-natural areas (including agricultural and forestry land, gardens and parks) into artificial land development, using soil as a platform for constructions and infrastructure, as a direct source of raw material or as archive for historic patrimony. This transformation may cause the loss, often irreversibly, of the capacity of soils to provide other ecosystem services (provision of food and biomass, water and nutrients cycling, basis for biodiversity and carbon storage). In particular, land take often affects the most fertile agricultural soils, putting food security in jeopardy. Sealed soil also exposes human settlements to higher flood peaks and more intense heat island effects. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor land take and soil sealing and their effects on soil’s capacity to provide ecosystem services. It is also appropriate to lay down certain principles to mitigate the impacts of land take as part of sustainable soil management. Land abandonment seriously jeopardises economic, social and environmental sustainability, especially in rural and inland areas of the EU. The recovery of abandoned land must be a strategic EU priority, and young farmers should be given incentives by means of priority allocation mechanisms given their key role in meeting the challenges of food self-sufficiency and combating rural depopulation.
Amendment 131 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) The assessment of soil health based on the monitoring network should be accurate while at the same time keeping the costs of such monitoring at reasonable level, and cannot be paid for by soil managers. It is therefore appropriate to lay down criteria for sampling points that are representative of the soil condition under different soil types, climatic conditions and land use. The grid of sampling points should be determined by using geostatistical methods and be sufficiently dense to provide an estimation of the area of healthy soils, at national level, within an uncertainty of not more than 5%. This value is commonly considered to provide a statistically sound estimation and reasonable assurance that the objective has been achieved.
Amendment 145 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 38
Recital 38
(38) Economic instruments, including those under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that provide support to farmers, have a crucial role in the transition to the sustainable management of agricultural soils and, to a lesser extent, forest soils. The CAP aims to support soil health through the implementation of conditionality, eco-schemes and rural development measures. Financial support for farmers and foresters who apply sustainable soil management practices can also be generated by the private sector. Voluntary sustainability labels in the food, wood, bio-based, and energy industry, for example, established by private stakeholders, can take into account the sustainable soil management principles set out in this Directive. This can enable food, wood, and other biomass producers that follow those principles inConditionality commitments, increased under the 2023- 2027 CAP, are both fundamental and sufficient to achieve the ambitious sustainable soil management targets. Any further commitments to be made by farmers will have to be guaranteed by sufficient extra resources. Financial support for farmers and foresters who apply sustainable soil management practices can also be generated by their production to reflect these in the value of their productsivate sector. Additional funding for a network of real-life sites for testing, demonstrating and upscaling of solutions, including on carbon farming, will be provided through the Soil Mission’s living labs and lighthouses. Without prejudice to the polluter pays principle, support and advice should be provided by Member States to help landowners and land users affected by action taken under this Directive taking into account, in particular, the needs and limited capacities of small and medium sized enterprises.
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 39
Recital 39
Amendment 154 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 42
Recital 42
(42) To ensure synergies between the different measures adopted under other Union legislation that may have an impact on soil health, and the measures that are to be put in place to sustainably manage and regenerate soils in the Union, Member States should ensure that the sustainable soil management and regeneration practices are coherent with the national restoration plans adopted in accordance with Regulation (UE) …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council53+; the strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the Common Agricultural Policy in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/2115, the codes of good agricultural practices and the action programmes for designated vulnerable zones adopted in accordance with Council Directive 91/676/EEC54, the conservation measures and prioritized action framework established for Natura 2000 sites in accordance with Council Directive 92/43/EEC55, the measures for achieving good ecological and chemical status of water bodies included in river basin management plans prepared in accordance with Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council56, the flood risk management measures established in accordance with Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council57, the drought management plans promoted in the Union Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change58, the national action programmes established in accordance with Article 10 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, targets set out under Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council59 and Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council60, the integrated national energy and climate plans established in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council61, the national air pollution control programmes prepared under Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council62, risk assessments and disaster risk management planning established in accordance with Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council63, and national action plans established in accordance with Regulation (UE) …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council64 +. Sustainable soil management and regeneration practices should be, as far as possible, integrated within these programmes, plans and measures to the extent that they contribute to the achievement of their objectives. Consequently, relevant indicators and data, such as soil-related result indicators under the CAP Regulation and statistical data on agricultural input and output reported under Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 of the European Parliament and of the Council65, should be accessible to the competent authorities responsible for sustainable soil management and regeneration practices and soil health assessment in order to cross-link these data and indicators and thus enable the most accurate possible assessment of the effectiveness of the measures chosen. __________________ 53 OP : please insert please insert in the text the number of Regulation on nature restoration contained in document COM(2022) 304 and insert the number, date, title and OJ reference of that Regulation in the footnote Regulation (UE) …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council on nature restoration 54 Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1). 55 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7). 56 Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (OJ L 327, 22.12.2000, pp. 1-73). 57 Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks (OJ L 288, 6.11.2007, p. 27). 58 Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Forging a climate-resilient Europe - the new EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change COM(2021)82 final. 59 Regulation (EU) 2018/841 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry in the 2030 climate and energy framework, and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 and Decision No 529/2013/EU (OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 1). 60 Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States from 2021 to 2030 contributing to climate action to meet commitments under the Paris Agreement and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 (OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 26). 61 Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action, amending Regulations (EC) No 663/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directives 94/22/EC, 98/70/EC, 2009/31/EC, 2009/73/EC, 2010/31/EU, 2012/27/EU and 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 2009/119/EC and (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 1). 62 Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC and repealing Directive 2001/81/EC (OJ L 344, 17.12.2016, p. 1). 63 Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 924). 64 + OP: please insert in the text the number of the Regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products and amending Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 contained in document COM(2022)305 and insert the number, date, title and OJ reference of that Directive in the footnote 65 Regulation (EU) 2022/2379 on statistics on agricultural input and output.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
(1a) ‘Soil ecological status’ means the ecological quality of a soil evaluated according to the soil’s diversity, biological and functional activity, habitat and the presence of degradation factors and determined according to the following classification:. (a) ‘high soil ecological status’ for soils with high biological and functional productive activity and structure; (b) ‘good soil ecological status’ for soils in an overall good ecological status but that show evidence of slight adverse impacts from one or multiple degradation factors which impinge upon their productive function; (c) ‘moderate soil ecological status’ for soils with evidence of slight adverse impacts from one or multiple degradation factors which impinge upon their productive function; (d) ‘degraded soils’ for soils with manifest evidence of adverse impacts from one or multiple degradation factors which notably impinge upon their productive function; (e) ‘critically degraded soils’ for soils with clear evidence of adverse impacts from more than one degradation factors which greatly impinge upon their productive function;
Amendment 201 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
(3) ‘ecosystem services’ means indirect contributions of ecosystems to the economic, social, cultural and other benefits that people derive from those ecosystems, taking into account the specific nature of the site being monitored, with reference to soil and climatic conditions, soil management and, for agricultural sites, the type of crops grown;
Amendment 230 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 15 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 15 a (new)
(15a) 'agricultural productive land' means an area where the conditions of the soil has been optimised to sustain or increase the ecosystem services agricultural production provides;
Amendment 234 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 17
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 17
(17) ‘land take’ means the conversion of natural and semi-natural land and agricultural productive land into artificial land;
Amendment 257 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
The number of soil districts for each Member State shall as a minimum correspond to both the number of NUTS 1 territorial units established under Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 and the definition of geographical areas made in the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Union certification framework for carbon removals (Reg. XXX - now COM(2022) 672 final).
Amendment 287 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall monitor soil health and land take in each soil district. The aforementioned monitoring activities must not incur any financial burden for the land managers.
Amendment 289 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. To develop its monitoring activities, the Member State make use of economic actors able to set up, enhance and integrate an intelligent monitoring network able to measure, analyse and recreate outputs on soil health, while also producing information of use to farmers for the purposes of sustainable and digital soil management. These activities shall be included in the back office measures set out by AKIS as part of the CAP strategic plans.
Amendment 321 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Member States may adapt the soil descriptors and soil health criteria referred to in paragraphs 1 to 5 applying to agricultural productive land for social, environmental and economic sustainability purposes.
Amendment 354 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) the values for allone of more of the soil descriptors listed in part A of Annex I meet the criteria laid down therein and, where applicable, adapted in accordance with Article 7;
Amendment 358 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) the values for allone of more of the soil descriptors listed in part B of Annex I meet the criteria set in accordance with Article 7 (‘healthy soil’).
Amendment 369 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Amendment 405 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
From (OP: please insert the date = 4 years after date of entry into force of the Directive), Member States shall take at least the following measures, taking into account the type, use and condition of soil:
Amendment 411 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) defining sustainable soil management practices, effective and predictable soil management practices taking into account the type, use and conditions of the soil and respecting the sustainable soil management principles listed in Annex III to be gradually implemented on all managed soils and, on the basis of the outcome of the soil assessments carried out in accordance with Article 9, regeneration practices to be gradually implemented on the unhealthy soils in the Member States;
Amendment 424 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) defining soil management practices and other practices affecting negatively the soil health to be reduced or avoided by soil managers.
Amendment 445 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
With a view to combating the dangerous phenomenon of land abandonment while simultaneously facilitating sustainable land management, Member States shall encourage the allocation of such land as a matter of priority to young farmers within the meaning of Article 4(6) of Regulation (EU) No 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021.
Amendment 468 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – introductory part
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – introductory part
(a) avoid or reduce as much as technically and economically possible the loss of the capacity of the soil to provide multiple ecosystem services, including food production, by:
Amendment 475 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – point i
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – point i
(i) reducingprogressively eliminate the area affected by the land take to the extent possible and
Amendment 479 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
(ii) selecting areas where the loss of ecosystem services would be minimizedis prohibited, thus ruling out the possibility of converting agricultural land to other uses; and
Amendment 482 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – point iii
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point a – point iii
Amendment 499 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) compensate as much as possible the loss of soil capacity to provide multiple ecosystem serviareas that have been converted into artificial land on the date of directive’s entry into forces.
Amendment 502 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) establish a minimum number of hectares at both district and national level to be reserved for the purposes of agriculture, horticulture and forestry, which must be compensated by other land when lost to a different function.
Amendment 503 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) establish a minimum level of agricultural productive land areas where land take would be totally compensated.
Amendment 639 #
Proposal for a directive
Annex I – Part A
Annex I – Part A
Aspect of soil Soil descriptor Criteria for healthy soil Land areas that shall be excluded degradation condition excluded from achieving the related related criterion Part A: soil descriptors with criteria for healthy soil condition established at Union level Salinisation Electrical < 4 dS m−1 when using Naturally saline land areas; Land Conductivity saturated soil paste extract Land areas directly affected by sea (deci-Siemens per (eEC) measurement method, orsea level rise per meter) or equivalent criterion if using using another measurement method Soil erosion Soil erosion rate ≤ 2 t ha-1 y-1 Badlands and other unmanaged (tonnes per natural land areas, except if they method Soil erosion Soil erosion rate ≤ 2 t ha-1 y-1 Badlands and other hectare per (tonnes per hectare represent a significant disaster year) unmanaged natural land areas, risk Loss of soilper year) Soil Organic — For organic soils: No exclusion organic carbon Carbon (SOC) respect targets set for such concentration soils at national level inexcept if they represent a (g per kg) accordance with Article 4.1, 4.2, 9.4 of Regulation (EU)significant disaster risk …/… ≤ 10 t ha-1 y-1 for — For mineral soils: Non-managed soils in natural SOC/Clay ratio > 1/13; land areas agricultural areas, but Member States may apply aare free to corrective factor where impose stricter limits deleted deleted specific soil types or climatic deleted conditions justify it, takingdeleted into account the actual SOC deleted content in permanentdeleted grasslands. Subsoil deleted Subsoil compaction Bulk density in Soil texture2 r Range Non-managed soils in natural compaction subsoil (upper part sSand, loamy <1.80 land areas part of B or E sand, sandy horizon1); Member loam, loam Member States may replace this Sandy clay <1.75 this descriptor with loam, loam, clay with an equivalent loam, silt, silt parameter (g per loam cm3) s Silt loam, silty <1.65 clay loam Sandy clay, silty <1.58 clay, clay loam with 35-45% clay clay Clay <1.47 In case a Member State replaces the soil descriptor “ ‘bulk density in subsoil” with’ with an equivalent parameter, it shall adopt a shall adopt a criterion for healthy soil healthy soil condition for the chosen soil chosen soil descriptor that is equivalent equivalent to the criterion set for ‘bulk for “bulk density in subsoil”. ’. ______________________ + OP: please insert in the text the number of Regulation on nature restoration contained in document COM(2022) 304 1 As defined in the FAO Guidelines for Soil Description, Chapter 5 (https://www.fao.org/3/a0541e/a0541e.pdf ) 2 As defined in Arshad, M.A., B. Lowery, and B. Grossman. 1996. Physical tests for monitoring soil quality. p.123- 142. In: J.W. Doran and A.J. Jones (eds.) Methods for assessing soil quality. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Spec. Publ. 49. SSSA, Madison, WI.
Amendment 686 #
Proposal for a directive
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(ia) in the case of productive agricultural land, ensure adequate productivity and product quality levels;