Kai Purnhagen

Kai Purnhagen is Professor and Director of the Research Center of German and European Food Law at the University of Bayreuth. He held positions at Wageningen University, the Ludwig Maximilian University, the European University Institute, and the University of Amsterdam. Kai is PI of the German Science Society project “Innovate Food Law” and responsible for the regulatory research of the HorizonEurope GeneBEcon project. He publishes in legal, natural sciences, and social science outlets.

Regulating NGT in the EU

Abstract

Criticism of the current GM regulation abounds, and discussion about the regulation of New Genome Editing Techniques (NGT) at the EU level is in full swing. Taking a behavioural law and economics approach, this talk will first explain the current GMO regulation at the EU level from the perspective of insights from psychology and behavioural economics. Subsequently, I will present a toolbox of regulatory options the lawmaker can choose from when contemplating the reform of NGT regulation. Based on this, I will present the options which are currently under discussion and present their strengths and weaknesses. I will close with a plea for a policy mix of various options.