How and When Did We Get Here? An Historical Institutionalist Analysis of EU Biotechnology Policy

EU biotechnology policy is locked into a sub-optimal path, with a fractured regulatory system and limited release of new crops onto the market. An historical institutionalist analysis of this policy area reveals insights into how this state of affairs came to pass and allows predictions about the sector’s future development. The case study also provides insights into how and why policies become locked into certain paths, thereby contributing to further understanding of how history can matter. In this instance it is suggested that a relatively small decision early on in the policy’s development was more important than a subsequent exogenous shock.