The new EU directive on soil monitoring will come into effect on December 16, 2025. The law aims to systematically record the condition of vineyard soils and improve the health of all soils in the EU by 2050. Estimates suggest that 60 to 70 percent are currently in poor condition.

For viticulture, this can open up opportunities – but it also leads to significant discussions within the industry. Healthy soils are a central production factor for wineries. They influence water retention, nutrient supply, root development, as well as yield and grape quality. The new EU law addresses this directly: In the future, soils will be examined and assessed across Europe according to uniform criteria. This includes physical properties such as compaction and erosion, chemical parameters, and biological characteristics of soil life.

An advantage for viticulture lies in the better data basis. Regular soil examinations can help identify problems early – such as nutrient losses, increasing compaction, or erosion risks in steep locations. In the long term, this can help increase the resilience of vineyards to drought and heavy rainfall.

In addition, sustainable target values are intended to provide guidance on what healthy soils might look like by 2050. These values are not binding but can serve as professional guidelines for long-term management and support investments in soil-friendly strategies – for example, in funding programs or consulting.

Despite these potential advantages, the German Winegrowers' Association (DWV) views the directive critically. From the association's perspective, additional bureaucracy and costs threaten viticulture, without a clear practical benefit being recognizable. The association is particularly critical of the combination of EU-wide target values and nationally defined trigger values. In practice, this could lead to consequences in the event of increased measurement results – even if the causes are outside the control of the operation or the measurement accuracy is highly location-dependent.

Another central point of criticism concerns the planned monitoring of PFAS and pesticide residues. The DWV warns that burdens from legacy issues or from the air – that is, inputs not caused by current farming practices – could be attributed to individual operations. This poses legal and economic risks for wineries, especially in traditional growing areas.

For the DWV, the national implementation is therefore crucial. The association demands a lean, practical implementation without additional bureaucracy and clear rules to distinctly delineate external burdens. Only in this way can it be prevented that viticulture is further burdened by new regulations.

(ru / Photo: Raffaella Usai)

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