Toward a Transnational Regulatory Model of Technology ─ in Light of EU GMO Laws

• Main Authors: Po-Hsiang Ou, 歐博翔
• Other Authors: 蔡宗珍
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/14306977723175577331

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 科際整合法律學研究所 === 97 === The rapid development of technology brought risks to virtually every aspect in the society, from ethic, health, environment to economy, crossing national boarders and becoming an international issue. Due to the diffusing and circulating of science /technology, those current regulatory theories such as precautionary principle, substantial equivalence and risk analysis are restricted by the international law, which lacks an universal system and enforcing efficiency, thus producing a “transnational problematic,” having no effective control toward different technology applications in the age of globalization. This thesis aims to resolve this transnational problematic, meanwhile proposes some reforms for the international law. Facing these difficulties, the unified, centralized EU law with high effectiveness seems to be a way out; and among all issues of technology law, the GMO is the most controversial and representative one. Therefore, this article constructs a transnational regulatory model of technology, through analyzing the functions, institutions and principles of EU GMO laws. This “EU Model” could be described with a three-leveled picture: first using the precautionary principle to push the GMO legislation, in order to obey the EU protection duty; then establishing a transnational political negotiating panel to weight different related interests, which is confirmed and legitimized by democracy; finally, the constructed GMO legal system is a hierarchy institutional framework, with horizontal regulations and central enforcements. However, after the famous debate of the EC-Biotech case in WTO, whether this EU Model could be universalized into a global model became quite questionable. The failure of EU in that case has revealed a huge gap between the EU legal system and the current international law; but on the other hand, the EU Model also had some positive effects in the discourse of international agenda relating to technology laws. Hence it is still possible to reach a pragmatic solution by abstracting the three-leveled elements of the EU Model. Based on the changing definition of sovereignty in technology issues, the international community might develop a global protection duty, and then adjust the original WTO institution with deliberative democracy, in order to reach a global governance of technology with consensus on risk management and coordinated judicial practices. The three-leveled EU Model could be transformed into a universal tertiary structure with EU spirits in the WTO framework.