In 2002, the 6th Environmental Action Programme (EAP) of the European Union was adopted, which identifies soil as a non renewable resource under pressure and sets out the objective to protect soil as a natural system in general and specifically against erosion and pollution. The programme proposes a "Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection" to be produced by 2004. At the beginning of 2002, the European Commission published a communication "Towards a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection" that outlines the potential scope of such a strategy and constitutes the first document from the Commission that deals comprehensively with soil protection.

Besides the Soil Protection Initiative, the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), adopted in May 1999, is presented, as it is one of the major policies that will have major impact on the issue of soil protection in the future. The purpose of this initiative is to add a spatial dimension to European regional policy and to define at the Union level policy objectives and general principles of spatial development, while respecting its diversity.

At the national level, soil legislation differs significantly among European countries. Nevertheless there is a common understanding in Europe for the need of soil protection policy. At the individual country level, widely different types of administration across each country exist. National soil monitoring programmes have already been implemented in some countries and are under consideration in many others. Not much of the national legislation is related to the soil medium directly. In many cases, legislation relates directly to air or water (surface and ground water) and only indirectly to soil.

One of the major problems for the assessment of soil condition in Europe, based on existing data, is the lack of harmonised methodologies for monitoring and data transfer, leading to a lack of comparability of data. EO services could contribute to a harmonised data collection and offer large benefits by delivering comparable data in a timely and cost-effective way.