EU Authorization of GMOs—The Failure of Deliberation

Abstract

This chapter examines the extent to which epistemic, political, and diversity challenges arising from the authorization of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are actually met in practice. It first considers how the European Commission defines the boundaries of its discretionary power as the risk administration of the internal market by contrasting Commission decision-making with two ideal models of administrative legitimation, the control, and the deliberative model. It then looks at two controversial cases of GMO authorization that illustrate the role of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in GMO risk assessment, as well as the scientification of the Commission’s risk management and the politicization of comitology decision-making. It also discusses the European Union General Court's responses to the administrative process of GMO authorizations. The chapter shows that top-down decision-making combined with scientification has contributed to the failure of deliberation in GMO risk regulation.