The European Commission published new guidelines which call for smarter spatial planning and using more permeable materials to preserve our soil. The guidelines have been published bearing in mind that soil sealing – the covering of the ground by an impermeable material – is one of the main causes of soil degradation in the EU.

The European Commission made public new guidelines on best practice to limit, mitigate and compensate soil sealing which collect examples of policies, legislation, funding schemes, local planning tools, information campaigns and many other best practices implemented throughout the EU. In February 2012, the Commission also published two reports which showed the need to combat the soil degradation within the EU.

According to the Commission, the guidelines now published underline the importance of an integrated approach to spatial planning. Taking specific regional approaches and mobilising unused resources at local level has also proven efficient. In addition, they also show that Soil sealing can be limited through smart spatial planning and limiting urban sprawl.

Every year an additional 1,000 km² (an area larger than the city of Berlin) is claimed for human use, a high share of which ends up being sealed. So Europe has become the world's most urbanised continent. If this trend continues at the same speed, in 100 years we would convert an area comparable to the territory of France and Spain combined.