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Executive summary
The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection, adopted by the European Commission in September 2006, contains a proposal for a Soil Framework Directive.
This consultation, issued jointly by Defra, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government, is designed to assist us in developing a robust negotiating position to enable us to engage effectively in negotiations on the proposal. It is important that our negotiating line is well-informed and based on sound evidence. Hence we are seeking your views on the scope of the proposed Directive, as well as on the costs and benefits associated with it.
The consultation contains seven distinct parts:
Part 1, Introduction, outlines the background to the Commission's proposal, as well as the rationale for the proposed Directive, alongside the UK's initial Impact Assessment.
Part 2, Initial questions, sets out key general questions which will inform our analysis of the need for and benefits of the proposed Directive. It would be helpful if we could have answers to all of these initial questions.
Parts 3-7 each focus on a single Chapter of the draft Directive:
Part 3, Articles 1-5, general provisions
Part 4, Articles 6-8, risk prevention, mitigation and restoration
Part 5, Articles 9-14, soil contamination
Part 6, Articles 15-17, awareness raising, reporting and exchange of information
Part 7, Articles 18-26, final provisions
In each of these Parts of the consultation document the key Articles within the relevant Chapter of the draft Directive are outlined and the issues we have identified in relation to these, to date, are summarised. Where relevant our preliminary analysis of costs and benefits associated with each proposed Article is given. Any current EC or domestic legislation which is already in place to address related issues is described to assist consultees consider how this additional legislation fits in with existing legislation. This is followed by a series of questions relating to the Article under consideration. Not all questions will be of interest to all recipients. We are not expecting everyone to attempt to answer them all.
Responses to the consultation will assist in the formulation of our negotiating position. We will rely on this position to shape the proposed Directive through discussions at European level and through negotiations and lobbying of other Member States, the Parliament and the Commission. However, as we are already involved in such negotiations, we are taking into account responses to Stakeholder Workshops held in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff and consideration by officials as to how the proposed Directive fits in with UK policy on better regulation and other general principles. It would be helpful for us to receive as many responses as possible before the closing date for this consultation, 19 October 2007. This will assist us to process replies and help develop our negotiating position as things develop in the autumn.
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