New laws address a pressing need
The unsustainable use of natural resources, in particular the degradation and pollution of soils, is a major driver of the climate and biodiversity crises in the EU. It has already cost thousands of lives and billions of euro.
Droughts, wildfires, water scarcity and flood risks are rapidly increasing, and are already tragically affecting three quarters of European countries.
Loss of yields due to degraded environment, pollution, droughts, heatwaves, floods and new pests come at a cost to farmers and fishers. But they are also costly for citizens as they increase food prices.
The European Commission has introduced measures whose long-term economic, social, health and environmental benefits are ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources.
Soil is a crucial, living natural resource, essential for the environment, economy and society. It is a non-renewable natural resource, where hundreds of thousands of species interact and work together. Soils deliver a wealth of ecosystem services on which we depend to prevent disasters, mitigate climate change and ensure food security.
The new Soil Monitoring Law has put the EU on a pathway to healthy soils by 2050, by:
- requiring EU countries to monitor and assess soil health
- supporting farmers and soil managers to improve soil health and resilience
- putting in place a solution for long-standing contaminated sites
- improving knowledge about soil health
New technologies can help boost resilience for both agriculture and forested land and protect harvests from the effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. New Genomic Techniques (NGT) are innovative tools that help increase the sustainability and resilience of our food system.
They allow us to develop improved plant varieties that are climate resilient, pest resistant, that require less fertilisers and pesticides and can ensure higher yields. This helps to cut the use and risk of chemical pesticides in half, and reduce the EU's dependency on agricultural imports.
What are New Genomic Techniques?
NGTs are techniques that can help breed new plant varieties faster, and with higher precision than classical breeding techniques, such as seed selection or cross-breeding. NGTs can produce a wide diversity of plant products. These plants may have only small changes that might also occur in nature or through classic breeding or they may have more complex modifications.
The new rules brought in June 2026 are ensuring a high level of protection of health and the environment, while contributing to sustainability in a wide range of plant species, and creating opportunities for research and innovation.
The rules:
- establish two categories of plants obtained by NGTs – plants comparable to naturally occurring variations and plants with more complex modifications
- reduce administrative burden for breeders and farmers
- ensure a high level of protection for health and the environment
- make provision for robust monitoring of economic, environmental and social impacts of NGT products
Improving plant and forest reproductive material
The European seed sector is the largest exporter in the global seed market.
Plant reproductive material is used for the reproduction of other plants (seeds, cuttings, roots and tubers etc.). Forest reproductive material (FRM) on the other hand refers to seeds, plants and parts of tree species that are used to create forests and plant trees. It is important that the legislation is up to speed with the evolution of science.
The new rules adopted in June 2026 will:
- ensure the quality and availability of FRM
- maintain healthy forests and ensure that the right tree is planted at the right place for the right purpose
- build a sustainable and innovative FRM sector that supports biodiversity and helps facing future challenges
- guarantee the quality and health of FRM
Reducing food and textile waste
Reducing food and textile waste can contribute to a more efficient use of natural resources and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions from these sectors.
Tackling food waste
The EU and its Member States are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to halve per capita global food waste at retail and consumer level by 2030. To accelerate the EU's progress, the new EU rules introduced in September 2025 require EU countries to reduce food waste:
- by 10%, in processing and manufacturing
- by 30% (per capita) in retail, restaurants food services and households
Tackling food waste saves food for human consumption, helps businesses and consumers to save money, and lowers the environmental impact of food production and consumption.
Sustainable and circular textiles
European consumption of textiles has the fourth highest impact on the environment and climate change, after food, housing and mobility. It is also one of the top three pressures on water and land use, and the top five in terms of raw material use and greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.
To tackle textile waste, new rules, in force since September 2025, make producers responsible for the full lifecycle of textile products and support the sustainable management of textile waste across the EU by:
- introducing mandatory and harmonised Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles in all EU countries, with producers covering the costs of management of textile waste
- introducing a uniform distinction between waste and used textiles – countries will have to ensure that separately collected textiles undergo sorting to prevent waste from being falsely labelled as reusable.
Increasing the availability of used textiles is creating local jobs and saving money for consumers in the EU and beyond, while alleviating the impacts of textile production on natural resources.
This page was last updated on 8 July 2026