Der var flere former for uenighed. Nogle medlemsstater satte spørgsmålstegn ved det fornuftige og nødvendige i at opstille fællesskabsregler for beskyttelse af jordbunden, mens andre var af den opfattelse, at et rammedirektiv burde give en større fleksibilitet og navnlig gøre det muligt at tage højde for de nationale politikker, der allerede var blevet gennemført, og som ikke blev tilstrækkeligt anerkendt med det aktuelle forslag til direktiv.
The disagreement took various forms: some Member States questioned the very validity of the initiative, in other words the need to introduce Community regulations for soil protection; others thought that a framework directive would offer greater flexibility and would in particular help take into consideration those national policies that had already been implemented, policies that were not adequately recognised by the proposal for a directive as put forward.