Pesticide Policy and Politics in the European Union

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Setting the Context: A Short History of Technology, Toxicology and Global Politics of Pesticides

   • Emanuela Bozzini

   Pages 1-25

3. EU Pesticide Regulation: Principles and Procedures

   • Emanuela Bozzini

   Pages 27-56

4. Policy Changes in EU’s Regulation of Pesticides

   • Emanuela Bozzini

   Pages 57-75

5. Open Controversies: Bees’ Health, Glyphosate and Endocrine Disruption

   • Emanuela Bozzini

   Pages 77-104

6. The First Years of Enforcement: A Success Story?

   • Emanuela Bozzini

   Pages 105-117

7. Back Matter

   Pages 119-120

   PDF

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.

• pesticides
• European Union regulation
• food security
• food safety
• toxicology
• risk assessment
• hazard assessment
• international standards
• Policy enforcement
• pesticide use
• environmental impact
• comitology
• endocrine disruption
• public mobilization
• principle of precaution
• european union politics

• University of Trento , Trento, Italy

  Emanuela Bozzini

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.

Policies and ethics