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2019 | Buch

EU Bioeconomy Economics and Policies: Volume II

herausgegeben von: Dr. Liesbeth Dries, Prof. Wim Heijman, Prof. Roel Jongeneel, Assoc. Prof. Kai Purnhagen, Prof. Dr. Justus Wesseler

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Palgrave Advances in Bioeconomy: Economics and Policies

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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Über dieses Buch

This two-volume book provides an important overview to EU economic and policy issues related to the development of the bioeconomy. What have been the recent trends and what are the implications for future economic development and policy making? Where does EU bioeconomy policy sit within an international context and what are the financial frameworks behind them?
Volume II explores the EU food sector, as well as food law and legislation, rural development in the EU, bio-based economy strategy, the circular economy and and bioenergy policies.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Food

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. The EU Food Sector

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the EU food sector. The chapter starts with a historical perspective on the major developments in the food sector after the Second World War. This is followed by a discussion of the structural characteristics and an assessment of the competitiveness of the sector. Next, developments in the organisation of the food supply chain and the shift in dominant players in the chain are addressed. The rising concentration in downstream segments of the food supply chain is creating concern and has spurred new initiatives at the EU policy level, such as tools to improve transparency along the chain, to facilitate producer cooperation and a ban on unfair trading practices.

Liesbeth Dries

Chapter 2. EU Food Law: A Very Short Introduction

Abstract

EU food law has grown of age. From a study adjacent to the law of the free movement of goods, it increasingly matures as an own area of law, competing at eye level with agricultural law. This chapter provides a very short introduction into the rationale of EU food law and the major legal acts, which describe this area. The rigorous application of the farm-to-fork approach across the whole supply chain makes the EU’s regulatory approach unique to the world.

Kai Purnhagen

Chapter 3. EU Food Quality Policy: Geographical Indications

Abstract

Over the past decades, the EU Common Agricultural Policy has increasingly shifted away from being production support focused towards being market and consumer driven. The EU food quality policy fits within this new paradigm and aims to provide farmers with instruments to compete under conditions of increasing market liberalisation. This chapter focuses on the EU policy for the protection of Geographical Indications in the food sector, an integral part of the EU food quality policy. A brief historical recollection of the steps that have led to the current EU food quality policy is followed by a description of the current policy framework for Geographical Indications in the EU and their treatment in multilateral agreements.

Filippo Arfini

Chapter 4. Public and Private Food Standards

Abstract

The globalization of food supply chains and a series of food crisis in the past few decades have increased the need for new instruments that allow to credibly transfer information about the credence attributes of food products along the supply chain. Public and private food standards provide such instruments. First, different ways of classifying standards are discussed. Next, the chapter provides examples of business-to-consumer and business-to-business food standards. The final section discusses the interplay between public and private standards. In conclusion, the proliferation of private schemes of food safety and quality in recent years has shifted intervention away from the citizen to the consumer and from public responsibility to the market.

Maria Cecilia Mancini

Chapter 5. Health and Nutrition: Policy, Consumer and Industry Perspectives

Abstract

This chapter reviews the most important regulatory instruments in nutrition policy in the EU and individual member states together with the most important scientific findings regarding consumer perspectives on healthy food choices. First, a definition of nutrition quality and stylized facts on the state of nutrition in the EU is provided. This is followed by a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of nutrition behaviour, potential leverage points, rationales and available policy instruments. EU nutrition policies in the area of food labelling and school programmes are presented next, and there is a brief overview of policies in individual EU member states. The effect of policies on consumers’ nutritional choices is assessed based on a literature review. At the end, the chapter discusses industry perspectives.

Jutta Roosen, Irina Dolgopolova, Matthias Staudigel

Chapter 6. Future Developments in the EU Food Sector

Abstract

Three main trends in the EU food sector are discussed in this chapter: changing consumer preferences, the continuing focus on food safety and the adoption of digital technologies in the food supply chain. Next, the chapter discusses the main policy developments that will continue to affect the competitiveness of the EU food sector. The focus in this section will be on the EU’s regional trade agreements and the prominent role that trade in agricultural and food products takes in the negotiations. A second major policy domain that is discussed relates to innovations in the food sector. The last section gives attention to the concept of the circular economy and the EU’s focus on preventing food waste as part of its circular economy package.

Liesbeth Dries

Rural Areas

Frontmatter

Chapter 7. A Public Good Perspective on the Rural Environment: Theory and History

Abstract

The literature on the theory of public goods is voluminous. This chapter provides an overview of public goods related to rural amenities. Many of these amenities tend to be non-exclusive and rival (e.g. forests and irrigation systems), exclusive and subject to some rivalry (e.g. nature reserves) or non-exclusive and non-rival (e.g. scenic views and clean air and water). Many beneficiaries of these amenities choose not to pay and will free ride on the efforts and activities of others (such as farmers and agro-foresters). This can present a problem for provision. Hence, rural amenities require collective action to be properly and efficiently provided since the logic of individual interests results in a socially less than optimum response.

Martijn van der Heide, Wim Heijman

Chapter 8. Market Mechanisms and the Provision of Environmental and Social Services

Abstract

Rural land is a major source of environmental and social services. However, land-use decision makers (including farmers) and society might be unaware or underappreciate, and often under-value these services. Private and local action ensures the provision of these services, and there is evidence of shifting societal norms in relation to expected environmental or social behaviour. Societal demand for the provision of environmental and social services can be represented as a cascading process from awareness, appreciation and value. Private sector actions and market mechanisms emerge to valorise these services, helping to connect people and businesses with targeted policies. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) can help to foster more effective and efficient supply of environmental and social services through market mechanisms.

Floor Brouwer, Chris Short, Simone Sterly, Janet Dwyer, Anne Maréchal

Chapter 9. Nature Conservation and Agriculture: Two EU Policy Domains That Finally Meet?

Abstract

Over time the EU has developed an ever-expanding body of agricultural and nature conservation policies. This chapter analyses to what extent these two policy fields complement or contradict each other. It analyses the level of the coherence between the policy fields by looking at the interdependent elements objectives, instruments and implementation. Results indicate that over time steps have been taken to improve the coherence between these policy fields. Particularly at the level of policy objectives the agricultural policy has increasingly committed to conserve biodiversity. At the same time nature conservation policy has acknowledged the important role of agriculture in maintaining biodiversity. However, at the level of instruments and implementation practices many inconsistencies remain.

Irene Bouwma, Yves Zinngrebe, Hens Runhaar

Chapter 10. Public Policies for Social Innovation in Rural Areas

Abstract

At the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century, European rural policies are on the edge of change. There is a need to evaluate the way social innovations contribute to achieving the goals of rural development policies. However, the direct and indirect impact of policies stimulating social innovation on social practices is often difficult to monitor. Important factors for emerging social innovations are the rural context and capacity of the population which are determined by regional natural and cultural resources, and political and socio-economic conditions at different levels. The adaptive cycle offers a conceptual lens to explore the potential contribution of social innovation and to address how best to respond to challenge facing socio-ecological systems in rural Europe.

Nico Polman

Chapter 11. Rural Resilience as a New Development Concept

Abstract

This chapter aims to apply the ecological concept of ‘resilience’ to the socio-economic development of the rural region. It argues that two elements are crucial for and prerequisite to ‘rural resilience’: (1) regional specialisation and, connected with that, the development of regional clusters; and (2) the regional ability to transform. In our view rural resilience is shaped within the context of social, economic and environmental (biophysical) possibilities and constraints. This means that ‘rural resilience’ is inextricably connected to the design of the rural landscape; that is, landscape design and spatial organisation determine and influence ‘rural resilience’. In this chapter, we focus on two main functions of rural areas, namely agriculture and the supply of rural services, such as agro-tourism and nature and landscape management.

Wim Heijman, Geoffrey Hagelaar, Martijn van der Heide

Chapter 12. EU Rural Development Policies: Present and Future

Abstract

This chapter considers the evolution of policy for rural areas within the European Union since the 1950s. It does so largely within the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) but gives some consideration to the wider EU regional (including cohesion) policies as these have helped shape rural development policy under the CAP. National policies for rural development are not taken into account. The chapter starts by describing the characteristics of rural areas. Next it gives an overview of policy-making for rural areas from the late 1950s to 2000. The third section describes rural development policy/programming since 1999/2000 to date. The chapter concludes with discussion and conclusions on current policy for rural development and the EC proposals for changes from 2021 onwards.

Petra Berkhout, Kaley Hart, Tuomas Kuhmonen

Bio-Based Economy

Frontmatter

Chapter 13. Present and Future EU GMO Policy

Abstract

Regulatory approvals for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the EU differentiate between alternative uses and remain particularly controversial in the case of cultivation. One of the solutions includes nationalizing the approval process, which—depending on its implementation—might offer a solution over the current deadlock situation. Irrespectively, the increased use of new GMOs in many parts of the world, along with a mired regulatory approval process for import of GMOs in the EU, promise increasing incidence of regulatory asynchronicity and structural trade disruptions. Reforms are needed that go beyond the current debate of nationalizing the approval process. The implications of asynchronous approval processes on international trade may also affect other countries and could require a solution at an international level.

Justus Wesseler, Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes

Chapter 14. EU Biofuel Policies for Road and Rail Transportation Sector

Abstract

This chapter is about biofuel policies governing EU terrestrial transportation. We provide an overview of important historical and policy milestones fringing the path of ethanol and biodiesel production and consumption in the European Union. By discussing selected topics related to the biofuel production, we aim to lead the reader through the maze of interactions of the biofuel policies with other sectors of the EU bioeconomy. Initially food crops were seen as a promising candidate for a renewable biofuel feedstock; later developments at the global scale got EU policymakers thinking about the possible adverse effects of biofuel policies on food commodity prices and indirect land-use changes. These considerations resulted in capping first-generation biofuels and recently promoting second-generation (advanced) biofuels instead.

Dušan Drabik, Thomas Venus

Chapter 15. EU Bio-Based Economy Strategy

Abstract

The bio-based economy has increased in importance over the past decades. The sector has received substantial policy support. This chapter reviews the history of the policy developments and provides an overview about the current status and expectations for the future. The methods developed for measuring the bioeconomy and related challenges are discussed in more detail. The traditional sectors of the bioeconomy, agriculture, forestry, and fishery are well covered by national accounting systems while the bio-based economy sectors such as parts of the chemical sector are less covered. Another challenge is the monitoring of biomass production and biomass flows and related emissions.

Maximilian Kardung, Justus Wesseler

Chapter 16. Opportunities and the Policy Challenges to the Circular Agri-Food System

Abstract

The circular economy is not a new concept in economics. Francois Quesnay and the Physiocrats of eighteenth-century France introduced the concept into economics. From a bio-chemical perspective, the law of conservation of mass needs to be considered implying mass can neither be created nor destroyed but allocated differently over time and space in a closed system similar to planet earth. Recently the concept of the circular economy received high policy attention. In the agri-food system the debates are related to issues such as reducing food waste and emissions in food production including greenhouse gases, recycling of food packaging materials and plastic in particular, and cascading use of food products including the use of fertilizing products.

Kutay Cingiz, Justus Wesseler

Chapter 17. Future Developments in the EU Bio-Based Economy

Abstract

This chapter reviews trends and developments in the EU bio-based economy. Three main trends are discussed: new developments in gene editing, related EU policies and the implications for the bioeconomy and the bio-based economy in particular; food products derived from cell cultures and new protein sources; and urban farming. The trends in food production indicate a move towards urban agriculture. Rural areas will be challenged to develop alternatives to food production. The circular bioeconomy can be of support and provide an opportunity for refreshing the debate on EU agriculture and rural development.

Justus Wesseler

Backmatter

Titel: EU Bioeconomy Economics and Policies: Volume II
herausgegeben von: Dr. Liesbeth Dries
Prof. Wim Heijman
Prof. Roel Jongeneel
Assoc. Prof. Kai Purnhagen
Prof. Dr. Justus Wesseler
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-28642-2
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28641-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28642-2