Healthy Soils for Europe

The final EJP SOIL Policy Forum was held on 18th November 2024 in Brussels titled “Healthy Soils for Europe: The contribution of EJP SOIL at the science to policy interface” ”110 people attended the event in person and 233 online. The main purpose of the event was to enable national and EU-level policy makers meet scientists to reflect on latest policy-relevant scientific developments in the field of climate smart agriculture.

During the meeting, the discussions centred around three main topics: (i) soil data and the proposed Directive on soil monitoring and resilience, (ii) carbon sequestration and the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification (CRCF) Regulation and (iii) sustainable soil management (SML) in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Within the scope of these topics, presentations were made on the relevant EU policies, the main results from the EJP SOIL programme activities, the current situation and challenges from a national perspective by policy makers. During the opening speeches, Kerstin Rosenow, head of Head of Unit ‘Research & Innovation’ in DG AGRI, stated that the EJP SOIL programme has carried out important activities in the past 5 years, leading to many significant results that will make very relevant contributions to all stakeholders and especially for the Mission Soil.

The critical challenges of soil related policies emerging over the lifetime of EJP SOIL were presented by David Wall (TEAGASC), leader of the WP8 Science-to-policy underlying how the EJP SOIL scientists came together and identified key supporting information to be provided to policy makers through policy forums, policy briefs and feedbacks to the proposals of regulations.

During the soil monitoring and SML session, Maria Fantappié (CREA) highlighted the importance of soil data and robust soil monitoring systems in sustainable soil management and informed about the important outputs of the EJP SOIL programme in these areas including a metadata catalogue an analysis of national and LUCAS monitoring systems and recommendations for monitoring soils. Svetlana Chovancova, from DG Environment, updated the audience on the proposed Soil Monitoring Directive, which mandates soil health monitoring and provides guiding principles for sustainable soil management. From a national policymaker perspective, Ester Goidts from Belgium, emphasized that the proposed Soil Monitoring directive triggers the harmonisation of soil monitoring frameworks within Europe and allows to take a significant steps toward common soil health assessment.

In the following session, Axel Don (Thünen Institute), presented a Tier 2 evaluation of the C sequestration potential in soils of agricultural management measures. He also indicated that 156 different carbon farming schemes exist in EU and that farmers prefer activity-based schemes. Additionally, investments in sustainable soil management and soil carbon will pay off in the long term, due to improved soil fertility and yields. Christian Holzleitner, from DG Climate, gave an overview on the objectives and methods of the EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF Regulation) and the timeline towards the opening of the EU voluntary carbon market. Ilaria Falconi, from Italy, presented the national level policy development regarding a national registry for carbon removals and the steps required to align with the EU regulation.

In the last session, on Sustainable Soil Management Practices and the CAP (National Strategic Plans), soil management practices (SMP) were highlighted from different perspectives. Frédéric

Vanwindekens presented an inventory on sustainable agricultural practices adoption in Europe, possible trade-offs between yield and other ecosystems services and measures for lowering barriers and enabling the adoption of sustainable practices. Emmanuel Petel, from DG AGRI, gave an overview of EU’s CAP green architecture focusing on sustainable soil management and Elena Havlicek provided insights in the Swiss approach to agricultural soil protection and monitoring.

The EJP SOIL Final Policy Forum demonstrated the critical role of research in shaping soil-related policies. The event reinforced the need for sustained collaboration between policymakers and scientists to ensure that soil health remains a priority on the EU agenda. Participants highlighted that effective implementation of soil policies requires continued investment in research, harmonized monitoring efforts, and tailored support mechanisms for farmers.

As the EJP SOIL programme concludes, its legacy will continue through ongoing initiatives, future research collaborations, and its influence on upcoming EU soil policies.