The Regulatory State Goes Global: EU Participation in International Food Standard-Setting by the Codex Alimentarius Commission

Abstract

Since 2003 the European Community (on behalf of the EU) has been a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC or “Codex”), the international food standard-setting body of the United Nations. Full membership in international organisations (IOs) still constitutes a rare exception within the broad spectrum of the EU’s external relations. The proposed paper analyses this exceptional case with regard to the preconditions, the legal-institutional arrangements and the consequences - to the extent that they are already visible - of EC membership in the Codex. In terms of methods and materials, the analysis relies on official documents as well as on observations made in meetings of the Codex and of the intra-EU coordinating body (a special working party of the Council).

First, in order to shed light on the motivations for joining the Codex, its eminent role in the context of current world trade law is briefly explained. Subsequent sections of the paper deal with the lengthy negotiations that took place between the European Commission and the member states (MS), on the one hand, and between the EU and other Codex members, on the other - which arguments were made in these negotiations for and against separate (from the MS) Codex membership of the EC, which institutional arrangements were considered on the European and on the international level, and which positions eventually carried the day? It is shown that MS agreement to EC membership was conditional on a rather complicated arrangement for the intra-European division of competencies. The functioning of this arrangement is therefore described first in general terms, and then with regard to two recent conflicts - concerning geographical indications and contaminant residues, respectively - where it reached the limits of its effectiveness. On this empirical basis, the paper finally assesses the consequences of the EC’s membership in the Codex with regard to “vertical” relations between EU institutions and the MS, and “horizontal” relations between the EU and other Codex member countries. The concluding section briefly turns to the more general question of whether the widely shared but elusive goal of effective and coherent EU external action is easier to attain under the condition of IO membership than with other types of common or coordinated foreign policy. Proposals for the EC/EU to join relevant international organisations have recently been made also in other policy areas, and some cautious lessons can be drawn from the present case for such proposals’ chances to succeed.

Keywords: EU, Codex Alimentarius, Regulation, Food safety, International organizations, International standards