Search results

Background: The evidence base for the regulatory assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC) has proved very controversial to define. The EU has been a first mover and – after years of discussions and conflicts – adopted criteria for the pesticide and biocide sectors in 2018.
Key points: The article reviews alternative regulatory options and critically discusses some of the features of the adopted EU guidelines. It argues that they are a significant and necessary step. It further argues that while EU guidelines are certainly up to date with current developments in regulatory toxicology, they are not ambitious enough to set the pace beyond internationally agreed standards and conventions in risk regulation. Specifically, the article shows that EU regulators 'bypassed' some of the most difficult issues on the use and interpretation of evidence around endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
Conclusions and implications: The article argues that the lack of regulatory translation of pressing scientific questions on endocrine disruption has significant consequences: it limits the applicability of EU guidelines and will likely require EU risk assessors to resort to a case-by-case approach in evaluations of pesticides and biocides. Moreover, contrary to expectations and ambitions, EU guidelines can only partially inform regulatory developments in other chemical sub-sectors and in other jurisdictions.

AbstractThis article combines Multiple Stream Framework and stage model to analyse developments in the European Union regulation of pesticides. In so doing the purpose of this article is threefold: first, it contributes to the theoretical literature by providing an argument in support of the merits of integration of approaches. Second, it provides a refinement of the Multiple Stream Approach by extending it from the original agenda setting stage to the entire policy process. Third, it explains policy changes in a crucial but under-researched area of EU regulation.

"This book combines theoretical and empirical perspectives to address three relevant issues that are marking the European communicative landscape: the role of media and journalism in shaping the European debate, the function of public communication in promoting institutional activities and the implications of processes of inclusion to and exclusion from the Public Sphere. This volume offers a timely reflection on the communicative arenas which are structuring the discourse on Europe and its future." "Situated in a timely debate and uniquely giving well-grounded empirical evidence, this book targets primarily post-graduate students and scholars in social sciences who are working on European Integration issues. At the same time, the book is relevant to those actors studied in the different pieces of research, in particular European institutions, media groups and NGOs."--Jacket