Robotics technology in agro-food SME clustering after the COVID-19 crisis in Europe: legal aspects and socio-economic implications
Abstract
The business clustering of small and medium-sized enterprises related to the agro-food supply chain (agro-food SME clusters) would be able to contribute significantly to addressing the economic consequences of the pandemic crisis in the European Union. Robotics technology can play a crucial role for this purpose, whereby it is important to identify innovative solutions to the legal and socio-economic challenges caused by using robots that have already begun to transform modern agriculture, food processing, and the food distribution systems. To that end, this article proposes a special legal status for robot applications in agro-food SME clusters in order to address the matter of liability, which faces various complexities that are associated with autonomous sophisticated devices entering the real world. Additionally, this article explores how the agro-food SME clustering can cope with the disruption in the labour market due to the advent of robots by supporting, through blockchain technology, a job guarantee that preserves the social aspects of work and strengthens the fundamental right to work for everyone.
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