European Food Safety: Multilevel Governance, Re-Nationalization or Centralization?

Abstract

This paper is now published as:

Bernauer, Thomas, Caduff, Ladina. 2006. Food Safety and the Structure of the European Food Industry. In Christopher Ansell and David Vogel, eds. What’s the Beef? The Contested Governance of European Food Safety. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 81-95.

Please read and cite the published version.

Many political scientists and economists agree that particularly in the European Union multilevel governance and subsidiarity are conducive to the effectiveness, efficiency, and democratic legitimacy of policy-making (e.g. Frey 2001). Multilevel governance refers to a form of governance in which policy responsibility is distributed among different levels of government and among the public and private sector. It involves a plurality of actors, for example, local, and national governments, international and supranational organizations, NGOs, trade associations, and firms. Subsidiarity means that decision-making takes place at the lowest possible and effective political and/or administrative level in a given political system.