‘Mad Cows’ and Eurocrats—Community Responses to the BSE Crisis

Abstract: The initial Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy crisis, that is until the imposition of the EU‐wide ban on UK beef exports on 27 March 1996, and the failure of the institutions of the EU and Member States to react effectively and efficiently to this developing crisis, brought to light some of the faults in the food safety and animal health part of the EU's system of governance. Responding to criticisms and recommendations made in the aftermath of the initial crisis, particularly by the European Parliament, the EU has embarked on a process of reforming the administrative landscape in this area. This has included the setting‐up of a new regulatory agency, the European Food Safety Agency, and a commitment to the more effective use of scientific information. It is submitted that this could lead to the development of new information‐based scientific networks that inform and direct EU governance, networks which should contain the European Food Safety Agency at their centre.