The precautionary principle: a new paradigm for risk management and participation

A range of closely related versions of the precautionary principle has been adopted in legal instruments developed at national, European Union and international level in a variety of sectors. The 2000 Communication on Precaution of the European Commission (COM (2000) 1 final) highlights the general relevance of the Precautionary Principle for the policy of the European Union in areas such as environmental protection, consumer protection and health protection. This key policy document specifies some of the major requirements for applying the principle. The concept of precaution itself, however, and its implementation in the expanding and increasingly important field of risk regulation are highly debated and controversial. In the face of this situation, the authors aimed at devising a policy framework for the application of the Precautionary Principle which provides guidance to European policy makers with respect to European and international risk governance. This attempt was funded by the European Commission within its STRATA-Program1. In a fruitful co-operation of social scientists specialised in risk and uncertainty issues, natural scientists specialised in chemical risks, and a legal scholar with special expertise in risk regulation the project team2 developed a general model for the implementation of precaution in European risk regulation. The model is understood as a strategic response to the most prominent challenge of risk reduction and management for the protection of human health and the environment which accompanies the European integration process.