What the EU Soil Monitoring Law means for Swedish development projects and due diligence

A new EU framework for soil

Directive (EU) 2025/2360 on soil monitoring and resilience was adopted on 12 November 2025, published in the Official Journal on 26 November 2025 and entered into force on 16 December 2025. Member States must transpose it into national law by 16 December 2028. 

The Directive applies to all soils and establishes a framework for monitoring and assessing soil health, supporting soil resilience and addressing contaminated sites. It also requires the monitoring of physical impacts associated with development, including soil sealing and soil removal. Its long term objective is healthy soils by 2050. However, the Directive expressly states that this is aspirational and does not impose an obligation on Member States to achieve healthy soils by that date. 

For development projects, the Directive introduces principles intended to mitigate the loss of soil ecosystem services caused by soil sealing and soil removal. It also seeks to improve knowledge of these processes through common monitoring. This may make soil conditions more relevant at an earlier stage of site selection and project planning. 

Why soil data may matter in due diligence

The Directive requires Member States to identify and manage potentially contaminated and contaminated sites. Within four years of its entry into force, they must establish a publicly accessible register covering such sites and adopt a risk based and stepwise approach to their management. 

For environmental due diligence in Sweden, more structured and accessible information could improve the early identification of soil related risks. It may help transaction parties and project developers determine whether further investigation is needed before land is acquired, financed or developed.

The register should not, however, be treated as a complete legal or technical assessment of a property. A site's inclusion may indicate a need for further investigation, but questions concerning the existence, extent and consequences of contamination will still require an assessment of the circumstances of the individual site and the applicable Swedish rules.

The Directive should therefore be seen as strengthening the information available for risk assessment, rather than as replacing environmental investigations or existing Swedish rules on contaminated land.

Swedish implementation will determine the practical impact

As a directive, the Soil Monitoring Law requires national implementation. On 30 April 2026, the Swedish Government instructed the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to prepare implementation proposals in cooperation with the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the Swedish Forest Agency, the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning and the Geological Survey of Sweden. 

The assignment covers the monitoring framework, soil districts and units, contaminated sites and necessary legislative amendments. A partial report concerning parts of the monitoring structure was due on 2 October 2026, while the final report is due by 1 June 2027. Sweden's final implementing rules have therefore not yet been determined. 

For businesses acquiring or developing land in Sweden, the immediate issue is not a new standalone remediation liability under the Directive. The more relevant development is that soil conditions may become more visible and more consistently documented. This may influence the scope of environmental investigations, contractual risk allocation and project planning.

Developers, landowners and investors should therefore follow the Swedish implementation process and consider how emerging soil information may affect future due diligence and development risk assessments.