Food Safety Regulation in Europe

1. Auflage 2007
ISBN: 978-90-5095-636-9
Verlag: Intersentia Publishers

Buch, Englisch, 469 Seiten, Format (B × H): 172 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 839 g

Reihe: IUS Commune: European and Comparative Law Series

The past decade has seen the regulation of food safety within the European Union face unprecedented challenges, such as BSE, the contamination of food with dioxins, and the increasing occurrence of infectious agents like Salmonella, as well as the emergence of new products and technologies (genetically modified food) and a heightened sensitivity of the public towards biotechnology and animal welfare. As a consequence, most European countries and the EU institutions have witnessed major reforms to their regulatory systems on food safety, often characterised by a stricter separation of the scientific and political components of risk analysis, a reference to the precautionary principle and a stronger commitment to the principles of transparency, participation and accountability.

Against this background, this book investigates the legal and institutional structures of food safety regulation and their recent developments in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, and at the EU level. The choice of countries is intended to shed light on the different ways in which European systems of food safety regulation have been affected by major food scares: where France, the UK, Germany, and the EU were the main actors in the 1996 BSE crisis, Sweden was left untouched, and Hungary entered the EU only after the outbreak of the crisis. In addition, the book provides insights into how the various actors perceive the practical functioning of these systems. Special attention is given to how the different regulatory frameworks address challenges related to scientific uncertainty and socio-political ambiguity, the interaction of different levels of governance, and the principles of good governance. On the basis of these findings, the book aims to identify commonalities and differences between the various systems. In this way, it seeks to understand the main challenges that the current systems of food safety regulation in Europe, in particular the EU system, face so as to offer a solid basis for rethinking these structures.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Vos, Ellen

Wendler, Frank

Über Autor(innen)

Vos, Ellen
Ellen Vos is a Professor of European Union Law at the Law Faculty of Maastricht University. She is co-director of the Maastricht Centre for European Law of Maastricht University. She is research coordinator of the research programme Integration, Differentiation and Flexibility: New Perspectives on EU Law and Policy under the umbrella of the Ius Commune Research school, in which scholars from Utrecht University, Amsterdam University and Leuven University participate.

Ellen Vos studied law at the Universities of Utrecht and Bologna. She was a trainee at the European Commission, the European Consumer Organisation and the European Court of Justice. She wrote and obtained her PhD in Law at the European University Institute in Florence. She was a Jean Monnet fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute (Florence). From September 2001 until September 2005 she served as the Director of the advanced master programme in comparative, European and International law, the Magister Iuris Communis programme of the Law Faculty of the Maastricht University.

Ellen Vos is Professor in de rechten van de Europese Unie op de faculteit rechtsgeleerdheid van de Universiteit Maastricht. Ze is co-directeur van het Maastricht Centre for European Law van de Universiteit Maastricht. Zij is onderzoekscoördinator van het onderzoeksprogramma Integratie, differentiatie en flexibiliteit: nieuwe perspectieven op Europees recht en beleid onder koepel van de Ius Commune Research school, waaraan wetenschappers van de Universiteit Utrecht, de Universiteit van Amsterdam en de Universiteit van Leuven deelnemen.

Ellen Vos studeerde rechten aan de universiteiten van Utrecht en Bologna. Zij was stagiaire bij de Europese Commissie, de Europese consumentenorganisatie en het Europese Hof van Justitie. Zij schreef en behaalde haar doctoraat in de rechten aan het Europees Universitair Instituut in Firenze. Ze was een Jean Monnet fellow aan het Robert Schuman Centrum van het Europees Universitair Instituut (Firenze). Van 2001 tot 2005 was ze directeur van het masterprogramma in de vergelijkende, de Europese en de internationale wetgeving, het Magister Iuris Communis-programma van de rechtsfaculteit van de Universiteit van Maastricht.