Environmental supply chain regulations in a changing market environment: Exploring the EU’s regulatory power in the cocoa sector in Ghana

This article examines the European Union's regulatory power through supply chain initiatives amongst the trend of shifting market powers towards China and ASEAN. Through qualitative data from semi-structured interviews conducted in Ghana, focusing on the EU regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) and the cocoa sector, the study analyses the extent to which a Brussels effect can be observed or expected. The paper argues that in a loose regime complex, as deforestation, with a myriad of public and private initiatives, the regulatory power of the EU, especially to the extent of a “Brussels-effect” is limited, driven not only but largely by the shift in markets. It finds that the EUDR could act as a catalyst for some initiatives already underway. Yet, market access requirements shift the focus away from addressing core issues towards compliance capacity. The article also highlights the complexities of externalizing regulations beyond the EU's borders, raising questions about North-South relations in global regulatory power dynamics.