Chapter 20 Regulatory Frameworks for Aquaponics in the European Union
20.4 Overall Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
Aquaponics is not only at the nexus of different technologies but also at the nexus of different regulatory and policy fields. While it may provide solutions to various sustainability goals, it seems to fall in the cracks between established legal and political categories. To add to the complexity, the development of aquaponics is affected by regulation from different levels of government. For example, facilitation of urban agriculture has to come from the national or even subnational level, as the EU has no competence in planning law.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems20.3 Aquaponics and EU Policies
National policies can only be analyzed for each individual country. We therefore concentrate on relevant EU policies. 20.3.1 Overview of Relevant EU Policies The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) apply to the aquaculture and hydroponics components of aquaponics, respectively (European Commission 2012, European Commission 2013). Policies on food safety, animal health and welfare, plant health, and the environment (waste and water) also apply. 20.3.1.1 Common Agricultural Policy The Rural Development Policy, also referred to as the second pillar of CAP, focuses on increasing competitiveness and promoting innovation (Ragonnaud 2017).
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems20.2 Legal Framework for Aquaponics
In this first section, our goal is to provide an overview of relevant regulations for the construction and operation of aquaponics facilities and the marketing of aquaponically produced products. We focus specifically on Germany, as it is impossible to extrapolate across the EU given that several important regulations, especially regarding zoning and construction, have not been harmonized across the EU. Although we focus on the German context, similar findings regarding planning law have also been reported in other countries (Joly et al.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems20.1 Introduction
Regulatory frameworks can have a decisive influence on the implementation of sustainable technologies. However, there are currently no specific regulations or policies for aquaponics in the European Union (EU) or most of its member states. One of the reasons perhaps is that it falls at the intersection of various larger fields (industrial aquaculture, wastewater recycling, hydroponics, urban aquaculture), wherein producers are subject to a variety of potentially disparate and conflicting regulations.
· Aquaponics Food Production Systems