Due to the lack of a univocal organic approach to the desertification within the EU regulatory framework, this latter is critically examined in this paper by illustrating the strategies that guide the Member States towards an integrated solution as well as to environmental, agricultural, climatic and financial policies contributing to the management of the phenomenon. The legal implications of the regulatory gap at European level are also investigated, evaluating the effectiveness of the existing discipline, the limits and the prospects for improvement, aiming at an integrated regulatory strategy that can respond in a coordinated and sustainable way to combat the desertification.