‘Re-nationalizing’ the Decision-making on the Cultivation of GM-Crops: Consequences and Prospects

Abstract

The EU’s decision to allow member states to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of GMOs has received a mixed response from both science and society. While some have hailed it as an inevitable step in breaking the gridlock in GMO-decision making as well as a way to reduce the EUs democratic deficit, others see it as a dangerous precedent that not only undermines the single market but will just create the same type of polarization at national level. The purpose of this panel is to come to a first assessment of the consequences and prospects of this decision for the regulation of risk at national, EU and international level. While we do by now understand why this decision was made, it is now time to make a first assessment of its effects. The papers for this panel focus on the following questions: • Which effects are (already) visible at member state level and how can we account for these? How have political debates at national level evolved and how do specific institutional and political constellations affect these debates? • What are the implications of this decision for the way the EU and its member states regulate risks and for the EU system of multi-level governance? Will the move increase the chances for deliberation about risk or re-produce politicization at member state level? Does the GM case set a precedence for other sensitive regulatory issues such as nano-technology or cloning, or will this remain an exceptional procedure that is restricted to GMOs? • What are the ramifications of this decision for both the EU internal market and the international trade regime with respect to biotechnology?

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