Regulating food and pharmaceuticals in the EU: a comparison of styles of governance

The spread of Mad Cow disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) across Europe revealed critical flaws in European health regulation. In 2000, the European Commission attempted to indulge public perception by establishing strong, proactive and coherent risk regulation policy, as set down in their 2000 Communication on the Precautionary Principle. However, the Precautionary Principle does not apply to all industrial sectors equally. This thesis compares food safety regulation to pharmaceutical regulation. It clearly shows that each system of regulation is governed by a different mode or style. These different styles of governance predate the 2000 Communication but have also continued unchanged since then