Soil

Conference 'Soil remediation and soil sealing'

Brussels, 10-11 May 2012

The Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission will host a high-level conference on 'Soil remediation and soil sealing' in Brussels (Belgium) on 10-11 May 2012, which will be opened by Janez Potočnik, Environment Commissioner.

The conference is part of the European Commission's work in implementing the Soil Thematic Strategy (COM(2006) 231) it adopted in 2006. It aims to highlight the importance of tackling soil contamination at an early stage and the opportunities created in the European remediation industry. Moreover, it will underline how addressing contaminated sites and brownfields can be helpful in limiting land take and soil sealing on fertile agricultural land. At the conference the Commission will present the recently published Soil Sealing Guidelines (SWD(2012)101). These guidelines are part of the Soil Thematic Strategy and will contribute to achieving the land take target proposed in the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe (COM(2011) 232. The conference will be closed by a panel, including Commissioner Potočnik and the Agriculture Commissioner, Dacian Cioloş, to discuss 'Land take, soil remediation and food production: the role of the EU's policies'.

The final programme is here.

Interpretation will be provided in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish. The conference will take place in the Charlemagne building of the European Commission, rue de la Loi 170, 1040 Brussels (CHAR building on this plan).

On-line registration is now closed. However, should you wish to attend the conference, on-site registration will be available on Thursday morning as of 8h30 and on Friday morning as of 8h.

For information about accommodation in Brussels, please contact the Brussels Tourist Office.

Information on public transport in Brussels is available here.

To watch the conference live in web streaming in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish, please use the following links (please note that, due to system restrictions, the live transmission will be available only with a Windows + Internet Explorer configuration):
INTERnet link Thursday 10 May 2012 (external users)
INTRAnet link Thursday 10 May 2012 (internal users within the European Commission network)

INTERnet link Friday 11 May 2012 (external users)
INTRAnet link Friday 11 May 2012 (internal users within the European Commission network)