Food safety governance and social learning: The Spanish experience

This paper analyses the significance of regulatory governance in the food safety system in the context of a European Union member state with little track record of public participation in administrative decision making. The recent introduction in Spain of regulatory governance in the food system (characterized by actor participation, increased transparency and partial independence from government) was induced by European legislative mandate, rather than being the result of a clear local social demand. Social actors are not necessarily prepared to assume the roles the legislation expects of them. However, regulatory governance, instead of being the result of a process of social learning, may in turn start social learning, with the concomitant changes in actors’ values and demands.