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ENDS Europe (which styles itself as Europe's environmental news and information service) has reported a setback for Spain in its bid to resurrect an EU Framework Soil Directive:
"Five countries that formed a blocking minority against a draft directive on soil protection in 2007 reiterated their opposition to it [at a meeting held] on Thursday [4 February 2010] as member state representatives discussed a new proposal drafted by the Spanish presidency of the EU.
Renewed opposition from Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria and France is a serious blow to Spain's plan to revive discussions on the draft directive in the Council of Ministers and reach an agreement under its presidency, possibly by March.
France's position is surprising because junior environment minister Chantal Jouanno said the country would drop its opposition to the proposal should Spain try to get things moving again. Getting France on board would have dissolved the blocking minority. Without France the other four countries would not have sufficient weight to block the draft law's adoption. But...France restated its opposition, citing a 'complicated' domestic situation, according to an EU source. The French representative was not available for comment, but an observer close to the issue suggested the citation may refer to a Franco-German pact dating from before France's presidency of the EU which had promised French support for Germany on soil.
The compromise proposals prepared by the Spanish EU presidency for [the] meeting... include many elements tabled by the Czech presidency in the first half of 2009, although they are a bit more ambitious. Member states would still be required to identify all areas at risk of soil degradation within their territories, although some member states do not support the 'priority area' approach, according to a progress report published by the Czechs.
A more serious challenge is that Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Austria believe soil protection is an issue for national, not EU, regulation. Last year, the UK vowed to continue to fight the directive if Spain made a new proposal."
The issue of the Soil Directive is on the agenda for environment ministers' next meeting on 15 March.
