EU Governance of GMOs

This book presents a constructive exploration of the dilemmas the EU faces in regulating the risks of the modern world. It examines the new European framework applicable to commercial releases of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) which was adopted in response to the crisis that surrounded the use of these products in the EU, and it aims to assess the regulatory character of this reform and its components.

The author situates the problems of the EU GMO regime in the broader context of 'post-state' regulation and discusses them in the light of some of the governance theories which were developed to respond in part to the dilemmas of risk regulation. Accordingly, the book contains a systemic analysis of the new EU rules pertinent to GM products, the new authorisation procedures for GMO marketing and the new system for post-approval control of commercialised products, as well as an evaluation of these newly developed solutions. This examination reveals that the regime embodies different regulatory modes introduced by the EU which are combined in various forms in a way that frequently influences the adequacy of the adopted measures.

The conclusion stemming from these findings suggests that the most appropriate solution for GMO policy in the EU is a reflexive combination of various regulatory approaches by policy-makers which will allow for the reinforcement of their functions and the accommodation of different, often contradictory, policy needs.