GMO Reform—The Internal Market as a Site of Diversity

This chapter examines the legal and policy changes brought about by the 2015 reform of the regulatory framework for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It considers the extent to which Directive 2015/412, introduced to make the 2015 regulatory reform possible and to allow for national opt-outs from GMO cultivation, helps overcome the legitimacy problems of EU risk regulation. The chapter first analyses the new EU approach to GMO cultivation via Directive 2015/412 before discussing the scope of EU harmonization in the field of GMO regulation after the adoption of this Directive. It then explains the constitutional limits of Article 114 TFEU in granting Member States the right to restrict GMO cultivation and concludes by assessing the implications of the 2015 reform for free movement of GMO products as well as highlighting the reform’s shortcomings.