Food Sovereignty and Law

Member States’ Possibilities Within the Framework of the European Union

Abstract

The article aims to shed light on the legal (mainly legislative) implications of the food sovereignty movement as an agricultural policy paradigm. Food sovereignty grew out of a movement in the second half of the 1990s, whose proponents defined themselves as the counterpart of increasingly globalised food supply chains. In this article, after presenting the main elements of the food sovereignty paradigm, I will focus on two main themes. On the one hand, what sovereignty in food sovereignty means, who is sovereign in the first place; and on the other hand, what ideas and desires the proponents of the paradigm have for a well-functioning agriculture and food system. This will be followed by an examination, through the example of the Hungarian legal system, of the legal consequences if one aims to build a legal framework for agriculture based on the principles of the paradigm. As Hungarian law must necessarily operate within the framework of EU law, it is also important to explore the scope given to Member States to implement elements of the paradigm at national level. Finally, I will make some further proposals that could advance the implementation of food sovereignty in domestic context.