Recital (53)

In order to make the widest possible use of soil health data generated by the monitoring carried out under this Directive, Member States should be required to facilitate the access to such data to the public, in an aggregated form at the soil unit level or at a more detailed level if relevant, provided that it is not possible to identify the individual values or the location of the underlying georeferenced samples. The confidential data collected by the Commission or by Member States to produce European statistics should be protected in accordance with the rules and measures of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, in order to gain and maintain the confidence of the parties responsible for providing that information. Where the Commission or Member States produce soil health statistics, they should ensure that confidential data respect the principles of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. Moreover, in order to protect data ownership, it is important that the Commission, the EEA or the Member States only disclose data with the consent of the data owner. In addition, Member States should communicate soil health data and the results of the soil health assessments to relevant stakeholders such as farmers, foresters, landowners and local authorities. It is important that prospective land buyers and tenants receive, in accordance with national law and upon their request, the soil health data and the results of the soil health assessments. Furthermore, soil health data made available pursuant to this Directive can be used for monitoring of soil-related aspects carried out under other Union law, where relevant.