A Europeanization deficit? The impact of EU organic agriculture regulations on new member states

Bibliographic Data

ID7880672
AuthorsJohannes Michelsen (corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume15
Issue1
Pages117-134
Publication date2008-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of European Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1350-1763 • E-ISSN: 1466-4429
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13501760701702256
OpenAlexW2090259861
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited22

Member states’ implementation of European Union regulations is often analysed in terms of ‘implementation deficit’ and ‘transposition delay’. New member states have to transpose the acquis communautaire in formal terms, while implementation deficit is expected regarding policy impact on issues of ecological modernization, especially in the former socialist states. A comparison of the implementation of two regulations on organic agriculture in six old member states and five new member states accessing in 2004 shows this proposition to be invalid. Policy impacts show similar levels and parallel variations in both the old and the new member states. Variation in policy impact is explained by the level of conflict in the food sector and by the level of institutional change. The impact of the EU in member states thus depends on domestic institutional processes rather than on member states’ ascribed position as more or less ecologically modernized. Keywords: Common agricultural policyecological modernizationimplementationorganic agriculturepolicy impacttransposition. I am grateful to the anonymous referees of the Journal of European Public Policy and to Christilla Roederer-Rynning of the University of Southern Denmark. Notes 1. The share of farms indicates the number of farmers (i.e. the target group) who have decided to convert, irrespective of farm size. The EU average size of organic farms is about double the average size of all EU farms. 2. Formally, implementation of EU regulations (‘directly applicable in all member states’) differs from implementation of EU directives (‘binding as to the result to be achieved’) (Nugent Citation1999: 245.), which is the focus of research on transposition. In practice, the distinction is blurred (Nugent Citation1999: 246.). Regulations are virtually a privilege of the CAP and some directives leave but little room for adjustment by national authorities. The two regulations on organic agriculture are very similar to directives. 3. www.organic-europe.net reports a share of only 0.2 per cent organic farms in 2004. If this is correct, Hungary's position changes from outlier among member states with medium-level conflicts to outlier among member states with low-ignore level conflicts because the high level of organizational change only included the export-oriented part of the organic food sector

Agricultural policy · Agriculture · Business · Common Agricultural Policy · Economic policy · European union · Geography · Member state · Member states · Political science · Position (finance · European Union Policy and Governance · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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