Political influences on biotechnology-based innovation for European agriculture: risk-assessment and risk management

In this paper we explore how the politics of European regulation and risk governance for innovative agricultural biotechnologies, with the continuing emphasis on the precautionary principle, has problematised conventional norms of evidence-based risk-related decision-making. Based on a study we conducted that analysed how the EU regulatory system had operated in practice in the context of two of the company Syngenta’s genetically modified (GM) crops (Bt11 and GA21), and through stakeholder workshops, we highlight the tensions in the current regulatory system in Europe, the implications for the future regulation of new and emerging advanced agricultural biotechnologies in the EU, and suggest areas where there may be a need for further regulatory adjustment.