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Why regulators assess risk differently: Regulatory style, business organization, and the varied practice of risk‐based food safety inspections across the EU

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Listed:
  • Olivier Borraz
  • Anne‐Laure Beaussier
  • Mara Wesseling
  • David Demeritt
  • Henry Rothstein
  • Marijke Hermans
  • Michael Huber
  • Regine Paul

Abstract

This article advances scholarship on comparative regulation by moving beyond the conventional focus on formal law and EU comitology to assess the extent of ‘practice convergence’ in the implementation of EU regulation. Drawing on 50 key informant interviews, a survey, and policy document analysis, we compare how regulators in England, Germany, France and the Netherlands have implemented EU requirements that food safety inspections be ‘risk‐based’. Focusing on a clear dependent variable – risk‐scoring methods – we find important differences in the conception and targeting of risk‐based inspections; with starkly different implications for what kind of food businesses they need to target to ensure safety within an ostensibly harmonized single market. We attribute variation in the implementation of risk‐based inspection to the ways that EU requirements were filtered through long‐entrenched regulatory styles and modes of food business organization in each country, reinforcing preexisting inspection practices in the design of new risk‐based tools.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Borraz & Anne‐Laure Beaussier & Mara Wesseling & David Demeritt & Henry Rothstein & Marijke Hermans & Michael Huber & Regine Paul, 2022. "Why regulators assess risk differently: Regulatory style, business organization, and the varied practice of risk‐based food safety inspections across the EU," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(1), pages 274-292, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:16:y:2022:i:1:p:274-292
    DOI: 10.1111/rego.12320
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Andy Stirling, 2010. "Keep it complex," Nature, Nature, vol. 468(7327), pages 1029-1031, December.
    3. Christopher Pollitt, 2001. "CLARIFYING CONVERGENCE. Striking similarities and durable differences in public management reform," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(4), pages 471-492, December.
    4. Beaussier, Anne-Laure & Demeritt, David & Griffiths, Alex & Rothstein, Henry, 2020. "Steering by their own lights: Why regulators across Europe use different indicators to measure healthcare quality," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(5), pages 501-510.
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    Cited by:

    1. Williamson David & Pugh Geoff & Akinbote Mayowa, 2024. "A Compliance Return Method to Evaluate Different Approaches to Implementing Regulations: The Example of Food Hygiene Standards," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 1-24.

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