The Commission should assist and support Member States, at their request, in monitoring their soil health by continuing to carry out and enhancing regular in situ soil sampling and related soil measurements (LUCAS soil) as part of the LUCAS carried out in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council. For that purpose, and subject to the agreement of Member States, LUCAS is to be enhanced and upgraded to fully align it with the specific quality requirements to be met for the purposes of this Directive. In order to alleviate the administrative and financial burden, Member States should be allowed to take into account the soil health data collected under LUCAS. Those soil health data should be made available to Member States in a timely manner. The Member States thus supported should make the necessary legal arrangements to ensure that the Commission can carry out such in situ soil sampling, including on privately owned land, and in compliance with applicable Union or national law.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
