EU Food Law and the Politics of the Internal Market: The Challenge of Cultivated Meat

By banning cultivated meat, Italy has added another facet to the recent politicisation surrounding meat substitution. Sketching its genesis, content, and political context, the article analyses the ban’s compatibility with EU law as well as its potential future implications for the harmonised system of EU food law. Procedural deficiencies and competence issues render the ban inapplicable and ultra vires. Even in potential future scenarios where the Commission has authorised a cultivated meat product, the current framework of EU internal market law leaves little margin for derogations. Yet, the ban offers an opportunity to reflect on more fundamental issues, with regard in particular to the criticism concerning the alleged reductionism of the administrative procedures envisaged by EU food law. According to the concerns raised by several Member States, the latter would indeed be too focused on science-based health and safety concerns, neglecting broader socio-economic and ethical considerations. In the article, this criticism is contrasted with the letter of the Novel Food Regulation, which foresees engagement with ‘other legitimate factors’. Contextualising such a critique with past regulatory practices and debates, though, allows to shed light on the crucial role of comitology and its function as a filter for political sensitivities. Ultimately, it is shown how procedural duties could foster the deliberative quality of EU administrative decision-making by mandating engagement with other legitimate factors beyond narrower science-based health and safety aspects.