You can’t go around ruining a shared resource that is essential to life and then refuse to take responsibility. I mean you can, but don’t be surprised if others, whether the EU or your fellow citizens, take you to task.

Both pieces of legislation have been criticised by campaigners for being too loose, though. “Despite the great announcements of the European Commission, as it stands, the proposal is very weak,” says Andrea Beste, scientific adviser to the German Green MEP Martin Häusling. “It does not contain any targets or obligations to prepare plans. It contains very little about soil biodiversity and no clear mechanisms related to the ‘polluter pays’ principle.”

Elisabet Nadeu, an expert on EU farming policy at the Institute for European Environmental Policy, points out that more than 60 per cent of the EU’s agricultural soils are considered unhealthy, which demands “serious action”. But she echoes Beste’s concerns over the proposals, adding that they “will only effectively start being implemented towards the end of this decade, when soil degradation is likely to have worsened and we are likely to face more extreme [weather] events with significant impacts on soils”.

We owe our entire existence to 15 cm of topsoil, kicking the can down the road is super dangerous. Some experts estimate we have fewer than 60 harvests left if we carry on like this.

The CAP is total crap. It’s the only actual brexit benefit the UK got.

Removed by mod