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Volume 43 | Number 3 Summer 2008

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Food Safety Regulation in the European Union:  Toward an Unavoidable Centralization of Regulatory Powers

by Emilie H. Leibovitch

Abstract

As the threat of foodborne illnesses is becoming increasingly obvious, the future of the European Union (EU) is becoming clearer.  The study of food safety regulation in the EU sheds light on the future of the European regulatory system as a whole.  Looking at the evolution of the European Union and the EU institutions, and how food safety has been regulated over the years, one can predict a centralization of regulatory powers in the EU.

Despite the fact that the present decentralized system is not able to prevent food scares, the centralization of food safety regulatory powers in the EU has been both supported and criticized.  However, an analysis of the present food safety measures in the EU demonstrates that the movement toward centralization has already begun.  Today’s de facto centralization will eventually lead to tomorrow’s de jure centralization.

Summary

  1. Introduction
  2. An Analysis of Centralization of Food Safety Regulatory Powers: Today's European Union is Not Ready for an Official Centralization of Its Food Safety Regulatory System
    1. Historical Evolution of Food Safety Regulation in the EU
    2. A Centralized Power is Better Than a Decentralized Power When It Comes to Food Safety
      1. Decentralization Encourages Member States to Use Public Health Concerns as a Competitive Tool Against One Another
      2. Centralization Improves Consumer Trust
      3. Centralization Reduces Business Uncertainty
      4. Even Slightly Decentralized Systems Are Not Perfect: The Single Food Agency Debate in the United States
        1. Overview of the U.S. Food Regulatory System
        2. The Present U.S. System Does Not Prevent Food Scares
        3. The U.S.’s Single Food Agency Debate
    3. Today’s EU Is Not Ready for an Official Centralization of Its Food Safety Regulatory System
      1. Institutional Obstacles to Centralization
      2. Political Obstacles to Centralization
      3. Economic Obstacles to Centralization
      4. Social Obstacles to Centralization
  3. Toward an Inevitable Centralization of Regulatory Powers
    1. EFSA’s Risk Assessment Responsibility
    2. Traceability and Labeling
      1. Traceability
      2. Labeling
        1. Labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms
        2. Labeling of Beef and Beef Products
      3. Hygiene Rules
      4. The Crisis Management System
        1. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
        2. Emergencies
        3. Crisis Management
      5. The Common Agricultural Policy
  4. Conclusion

Footnotes

For complete footnote citations, download the PDF.

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