EU Regulation of Biotechnology and GMOs

General data

Course ID:	4003-ERASMUS-EURB-OG
Erasmus code / ISCED:	14.6 Kod klasyfikacyjny przedmiotu składa się z trzech do pięciu cyfr, przy czym trzy pierwsze oznaczają klasyfikację dziedziny wg. Listy kodów dziedzin obowiązującej w programie Socrates/Erasmus, czwarta (dotąd na ogół 0) – ewentualne uszczegółowienie informacji o dyscyplinie, piąta – stopień zaawansowania przedmiotu ustalony na podstawie roku studiów, dla którego przedmiot jest przeznaczony. / (0312) Political sciences and civics The ISCED (International Standard Classification of Education) code has been designed by UNESCO.
Course title:	EU Regulation of Biotechnology and GMOs
Name in Polish:	EU Regulation of Biotechnology and GMOs
Organizational unit:	Centre for Europe
Course groups:	Courses in foreign languages General university courses General university courses
ECTS credit allocation (and other scores):	(not available) Basic information on ECTS credits allocation principles: the annual hourly workload of the student’s work required to achieve the expected learning outcomes for a given stage is 1500-1800h, corresponding to 60 ECTS; the student’s weekly hourly workload is 45 h; 1 ECTS point corresponds to 25-30 hours of student work needed to achieve the assumed learning outcomes; weekly student workload necessary to achieve the assumed learning outcomes allows to obtain 1.5 ECTS; work required to pass the course, which has been assigned 3 ECTS, constitutes 10% of the semester student load. view allocation of credits
Language:	English
Type of course:	general courses
Prerequisites (description):	Suggested interest in European policies and basic knowledge of EU law
Mode:	Classroom
Short description:	The course offers a compact presentation of one of the EU regulatory sectors, that is the EU biotechnology policy with a focus on GMOs (genetically modified organisms) regulation. It will be presented from the perspective of EU law with an inter-disciplinary approach and carried out in the manner comprehensible also for students with no legal knowledge. The course welcomes students of any background although it is mainly intended for students interested in European policy-making.
Full description:	The content of the course focuses principally on the most controversial aspect of the EU biotechnology policy – the regulation of GMOs. Its aim is to provide students with basic knowledge of the policy objectives, functioning of the GMO legal framework, GMO market approval and market control. The course begins with the introduction to the EU policy, its objectives, basic notions and types of the regulatory instruments applied in the risk sector. Then, the presented topics include the following: the critical analysis of the policy instruments and methods; the division of powers of the responsible actors in decision-making, that is the European Commission, the Member States and other institutional structures involved in the policy, eg. comitology and the European Food Safety Authority; the process of authorization and political controversies surrounding it; the system of national derogations from EU harmonization and the system for dealing with risks and dangers of GMOs; and finally the examination of consumers’ rights. The course offers in-depth analysis of the legal sources (GMO Deliberate Release Directive, GM Food and Feed Regulation, EFSA Regulation), the inter-institutional collaboration, the ECJ’s case-law and processes of decision-making. The last class will be devoted to the students’ debate on the EU policy of biotechnology. Student's workload lecture - 15 h reading in foreign language - 60 h preparation to the lecture - 30 h preparation to the exam - 75 h total - 180 h
Bibliography:	P. Dąbrowska, EU Governance of GMOs: political struggles and experimentalist solutions? w: C. Sabel and J. Zeitlin (red.), EU Governance: Towards a New Architecture?, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2010 P. Dąbrowska, Civil Society Involvement in the EU Regulations on GMOs: From the Design of a Participatory Garden to Growing Trees of European Public Debate?, Journal of Civil Society, Vol. 3, No. 3, December 2007, s. 287-304 M. Lee, EU Regulation of Biotechnology, Hart Publishing, 2008 E. Vos and M. Everson (eds), Uncertain Risks Regulated, Routledge-Cavendish, 2009. Vos E. and Wendler F., Food Safety Regulation in Europe, Intersentia, 2006 M.A. Pollack and G.C. Shaffer, When Co-operation Fails, Oxford 2009
Learning outcomes:	The aim of the course is to familiarise students with the functioning of a selected EU policy sector. Lectures provide an opportunity for students to develop the following skills: - in-depth understanding of presented legal notions/ institutions and capability of describing how they are applied and function in the system - identifying of legal problems and their significance for policy-making - differentiating of legal rules and principles of law as well as their interpretation with the view of presenting solution to possible problems - analysing critically the legal sources, courts’ judgments and reasoning - synthesising and structuring the arguments properly and with reasoning referring to the total knowledge of European studies
Assessment methods and assessment criteria:	Examination of students’ knowledge and the assessment of individual student’s activity is done on the basis of their participation in class during lectures and a final assessment in the chosen form. Criteria of evaluation: obligatory participation in class, taking part in discussions and debates, oral presentation.

This course is not currently offered.

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Copyright by University of Warsaw.