Europeanization, uploading and downloading: The case of Defra and Avian influenza

Abstract

Avian influenza (AI) has called for transnational policy making by member state governments and the EU as outbreaks of the disease have spread across state boundaries. The focus of this article is on the relationship between the UK and EU surrounding the AI case study from 2005 to early 2007. The analysis is informed by interviews conducted with officials based in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) who have been involved in projecting or 'uploading' national policy preferences to the European Commission and, at the same time, accommodating or 'downloading' the rules and regulations that have emanated mainly from the Standing Committee for Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) of the Commission. The article, therefore, adopts a dynamic view of Europeanization processes in order to analyse transnational policy making for AI outbreaks. The article shows that dynamic Europeanization processes are effective in conceptualizing and explaining transnational policy making for AI across the UK and EU levels.