Controversy first: factors limiting the success of Directive (EU) 2015/412 for national decision-making on the cultivation of GM crops. Issue 2 (3rd July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mampuys, R.; Poort, L. M.
• Is Part Of: Law, innovation and technology. Volume 11:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 175
• Page End: 202
• Publication Date: 2019-07-03
• Subjects: GM crops -- EU regulation -- controversy -- regulation strategies -- intractable disagreements; Technological innovations -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Intellectual property -- Periodicals; 338.064
• DOI: 10.1080/17579961.2019.1665794
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-997X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The cultivation of GM crops in Europe has a long history of disagreement. While the legal framework is based on a safety assessment, the disagreement goes beyond such risks and is rooted in political, social and cultural grounds. In 2015, with the discussion having become deadlocked—neither Member States (MS) who wanted to cultivate GM crops nor those who did not could have their way—Directive (EU) 2015/412 was adopted. This Directive which, in addition to the safety assessment, enables MS to prohibit the cultivation of GMOs in their territory based on non-safety considerations, was supposed to remove the deadlock and give MS autonomy to restrict cultivation. However, as of 2018, it seems that this approach has been only partially successful. In this article, we identify factors limiting the effective use of the new Directive; and, then using Poort's model of interactive legislation combined with an ethos of controversies, we analyse the potential of the Directive.