A series of food-related crises--most notably mad cow disease in Britain,                  farmer protests in France against American hormone-treated beef, and the European                  Union's banning of genetically modified food--has turned the regulation of food                  safety in Europe into a crucible for issues of institutional trust, legitimacy, and                  effectiveness. What's the Beef? examines European food safety regulation at the                  national, European, and international levels as a case of "contested governance"--a                  syndrome of policymaking and political dispute in which not only policy outcomes but                  aso the fundamental legitimacy of existing institutional arrangements are                  challenged.The discussions of European food safety regulation in What's the Beef?                  open into consideration of broader issues, including the growing importance of                  multilevel regulation (and the possibility of disagreements among different levels                  of authority), the future of European integration, discontent over trade                  globalization, the politicization of risk assessment and regulatory science, the                  regulation of biotechnology, the shifting balance between public and private                  regulation, agricultural protectionism, and the "transatlantic divide." After                  addressing the historical, social, and economic context of European food safety                  regulation, the book examines national efforts at food safety reform in France,                  Britain, and Germany and such regional efforts as the creation of the European Food                  Authority. The book also looks at the international dimensions of European food                  safety regulation, discussing the conflicts between EU safety rules and World Trade                  Organization rulings that occur because EU rules are more risk averse                  ("precautionary") than those of its trading partners, including the United                  States.

What's the Beef?: The Contested Governance of European Food Safety (Politics, Science, and the Environment) PDF

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