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. It will be opened by Janez Potočnik, Environment Commissioner, Ida Auken (invited), Danish Environment Minister and President-in-Office of the Environment Council, and Corrado Clini, Italian Environment Minister.

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 its Soil Sealing Guidelines that are being finalised. 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 draft programme is here. Updated versions will be posted here when available.

The participation to the conference is free of charge but will be limited to 400 people on a first-come-first-served basis. If you wish to attend the conference please fill in the on-line registration form to register for an invitation. Please note that for security reasons, only people with a confirmed invitation will be allowed in the conference building. Interpretation will be provided in Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish.