Towards More Experimentalism in EU Governance of GMO Risks? Experience, Reforms and Remaining Problems

• Authors: Dąbrowska-Kłosińska Patrycja
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The conclusions of my earlier work on the GMO regime in the context of experimentalism identifi ed the need for the revision of policy objectivesin this fi eld and for an institutional choice between political bargaining and experimentalist measures. The first of the claims became visible in the recent reform of the policy-sector, where the EU went through a revision process marked by market experience, the input of lower-level units and peer-review exercises. The effect of this process is the redefinition of regulatory objectives in the proposed reform. The need for regulatory modifications also reinforced two central, experimentalist features of the EU internal regime, which are: (a) constant attempts made by policyactors to respond to GMO risks under conditions of uncertainty and in the light of experience; and (b) on-going recursive revision of goals and a refl ective approach to GMO policy. In view of the present research, I would modify my second claim into a more definite statement. I believe that a desirable pathway toward further improvement of the GMO regulatory framework in the EU leads through the further conscious and consequential employment of experimentalist solutions in decision-making on GMO approvals. The evidence from the operation of the authorisation procedures over the last decade demon-strates that hierarchical decision-making, if accompanied by non-transparent, inflexible and non-participatory institutional practice, leads to further frustration of all actors and narrows the space for the emergence of deliberative practices. The democratic legitimacy of the decisions reached can also be questioned in view of deliberative ideals. There is a potential for the new regulatory framework, strengthened by the proposed reforms, to function in a more experimentalist way, on the condition that the involved EU institutions will be open to modifying their practices in a more stable manner and that the Member States agree on the entry into force of the reforms. The lack of successful co-operation in the approval procedures seems to be linked to inadequate institutional practices, apart from political disagreements. The latter cannot be removed in their entirety, but in order to ensure better policy outcomes there is a need to improve the institutional practices of the EFSA and the Commission in the first place.

Keywords

EN

GMO; EUROPEAN UNION; LAW

• Publisher: Centre for Europe, University of Warsaw
• Journal: Studia Europejskie-Studies in European Affairs
• Year: 2014
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 115-141

Contributors

author

Dąbrowska-Kłosińska Patrycja

• Centrum Europejskie Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego