Competitive Governance and the Quest for Legitimacy in the EU: the Battle over the Regulation of GMOs since the mid-1990s

Abstract: The European Union has emerged as the global precautionary superpower, particularly in the field of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The EU has moved away from the initial World Trade Organization (WTO) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) consensus and shifted toward strict safety assessment and mandatory labelling. In addition, the pathway to this change has been beset with incoherence and a series of crises. What explains this move toward tight regulation despite enduring economic interests to do otherwise? This paper uses the framework of competitive governance to analyse this outcome. The high degree of politicization of the GMO issue has made it a key battleground for competition for leadership, particularly between the Commission and the Council of Ministers. The result has been a protracted battle over agenda setting and issue framing and a cycle of competitive regulatory reinforcement. The Council has used its leverage in comitology to shape the legislative agenda and push the outcome toward its political preferences. The paper unpacks both the steps and incoherence in GMO governance since 1995 and the relationships between key actors involved.