A new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the EU Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) sees an urgent need for action in soil protection. The condition of 60 percent of soils in the EU is currently deteriorating, with consequences for food security, it says. The Commission’s own report mentions the planned EU law on soil monitoring as a measure with which Brussels is already tackling the problem. However, according to soil scientist Katharina Helming from the Leipzig Center for Agricultural Landscape Research, it does not do justice to the problem.