Resilience, Risks, and Norm Contestation: Unpacking the Ideational Dynamics of EU Nutrient Policy

The resilience of agri-food systems in the EU has become a central focus in policy debates, with the accumulation of shocks and stresses posing significant challenges. Fortifying the economic, ecological, and social resilience of the EU’s agri-food systems has emerged as a key policy imperative, accompanied by a growing emphasis on issues related to nutrient recovery and recycling. The European Green Deal, underpinned by the New Circular Economy Action Plan and the Farm to Fork Strategy, as well as the Common Agricultural Policy for the period 2022-2027, advocate for reducing nutrient losses, promoting sustainable nutrient application, and stimulating markets focused on nutrient recovery. The heightened prominence of resilience underscores the relevance of nutrient-related policy issues and strategies for crisis resolution, while also generating novel ideational dynamics and potential points of conflicts. To better understand these emerging normative dynamics, it is essential to develop a more nuanced understanding of ideational change and norm dynamics. This paper conducts a historical assessment of the evolution of the EU’s policy on nutrients aimed at enhancing agri-food system resilience. Guided by International Relations research on norm change and contestation, our inquiry examines the EU nutrient policy in the context of accumulated shocks and stresses and its overall resilience orientation. Employing qualitative document analysis, we scrutinize key EU official documents, legislative texts, and scientific literature, tracing the trajectory and evolution of EU nutrient policy. Our analysis highlights the interplay of policy and norm developments over time, the dissemination of resilience narratives, and the evolution of innovative technological solutions for closing the nutrient-food loop. Our findings reveal a dichotomy: while there is discernible momentum towards resilience-enhancing policy designs aimed at closing nutrient-food loops in the EU’s agri-food systems, a predominantly technocratic paradigm also gains prominence. The incorporation of resilience into policy frameworks is largely focused on economic aspects. Although nutrient recycling and reuse are promoted as potential problem solutions, the emphasis remains on maintaining market stability and financial considerations. This focus has resulted in a tendency to prioritize economic objectives over environmental concerns, leading to delays in key environmental initiatives and a lack of public engagement. Concerns about the health and environmental safety of nutrient reuse and recycling receive only limited attention in policy discussions. We suggest that norm contestation within EU nutrient policy, and debates over the meanings assigned to various risks and requirements for building resilience, could help establish a shared understanding. However, this requires broadening the discourse beyond short-term economic crisis interventions and placing greater emphasis on societal and environmental dimensions.