Article 12 — Land take mitigation principles

Without impinging on the autonomy of the Member States with regard to spatial planning, Member States shall ensure that the following principles are taken into consideration in the event of new soil sealing or new soil removal as part of land take, at the appropriate spatial level within their territory: (a) avoiding or reducing as much as possible the loss of the capacity of the soil to provide multiple ecosystem services, including food production, by: (i) reducing, as much as possible, the area of soil affected by soil sealing and soil removal, in particular by encouraging the reuse and repurposing of sealed soils, such as existing buildings; (ii) selecting areas where the loss of ecosystem services would be minimal, in particular areas with severely degraded soils, such as brownfields; and (iii) carrying out the soil sealing and soil removal in a way that minimises the negative impact on soil, in particular by protecting the surrounding soils or by keeping the soil sealing as reversible as possible; (b) aiming to offset to a reasonable extent the loss of the capacity of the soil to provide multiple ecosystem services, including through returning ecosystem services by encouraging the de-sealing of sealed soils and the reconstruction of areas that underwent soil removal.