Pesticide Policy and Politics in the European Union

This book explores the regulation of pesticides in the European Union in order to reveal the complex, controversial, and contested nature of an assessment system proudly declared by the EU to be 'the strictest in the world'. The current regulatory framework is based on Regulation 1107/2009, which substantially reformed the previous system. The analysis describes the new criteria and procedures for the authorization of active substances to be used in the production of pesticides, traces the lengthy policy formulation process, and identifies factors that made policy change possible. Further, the book illustrates the current controversies that characterise the implementation of Regulation 1107/2009: the ban of pesticides harmful to pollinators, the renewal of the authorization of glyphosate, and the definition of criteria for the assessment of endocrine disruption. The author provides information on policy outcomes and highlights persisting shortcomings in the enforcement of EU regulation. This book will appeal to students and scholars from a variety of disciplines, including political science, political sociology, and public policy.

Provides an overview of EU pesticides policy, a policy area of high societal relevance, involving many actors and stakeholders Contributes to the growing literature on risk regulation by providing detailed knowledge on a key issue that has been largely neglected by social scientists Addresses the multi-level structure of pesticide governance, rather than focussing on a specific supranational/global or national territorial level

Autorentext
Emanuela Bozzini is Lecturer in Environmental Politics at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento, Italy, and Research Fellow at the School of Law and Politics of the University of Cardiff, UK.

Inhalt
1: Setting the context: a short history of technology, toxicology and global politics of pesticides.- 2: EU pesticide regulation: principles and procedures.- 3: Policy changes in EU's regulation of pesticides.- 4: Open Controversies: bees' health, glyphosate and endocrine disruption.- 5: The first years of enforcement: A success story?.