NICOLE and the COMMON FORUM have published a Common Position Paper On Innovative technologies. 
 
  
There are potentially millions of sites in the EU where land contamination could pose a risk to 
water resources, ecosystems, and/or human health. As a result over € 2,000 million is believed to 
be spent annually on site characterisation, risk management and remediation. Stakeholders are 
facing new challenges: the discovery of new sites or new types of pollution and an increased demand 
for land that is suitable for use. Without cost-effective and sustainable management of the land 
the environmental impact and the cost will only increase further. This paper proposes concrete 
actions to help turn this trend around, supporting both the European economy as well as common European 
efforts towards a better environment.