The EU and Transnational Regulation of GMO Risks

Abstract

This paper explores the role of the EU in shaping transnational regulation of GMOs and attempts to establish whether the EU’s system of governance prompts experimentalist solutions at the international level in this field. In order to accomplish this aim the paper analyses the relationship between the EU policy on GMOs and the growth of the international regulatory framework which addresses risks associated with modern biotechnology products. More specifically, it examines the means through which the EU has attempted to extend its own norms, standards and governance of GMO risks to third countries and at the international level. It addresses the questions. What are the distinctive features of these processes and the characteristics of the regulatory systems created? In what way does the EU participate in the development of transnational regimes on GMOs, and do the latter regimes resemble the experimentalist architecture? Does EU policy in this area have repercussions on its domestic policy?