The Joint Research Centre has extensive experience monitoring soils across the EU. It established the EUROSOILS certified reference materials program from 1989-1999 and has conducted regular soil monitoring. This includes the LUCAS survey which collects soil samples from over 260,000 points every 3 years to assess soil condition under different land uses across EU members. Comparability of data over time remains challenging due to differences in laboratories used. Establishing a single EU soil observatory that fully integrates national monitoring systems could help overcome this issue and support EU policies through comprehensive soil reporting and indicators.