Communicating the Precautionary Principle. O. Renn, Center of Technology Assessment
The precautionary principle has been a major element of risk regulation in the European Union. The communication paper of the EU from February 2000 confirms the EU-commitment to the application of the precautionary principle in the regulation of food and chemicals. The EU has admitted, however, that is still lacks a clear operational concept of how to apply this principle. In addition, there are major problems in communicating this principle. Many observers believe that precaution means to ban a substance if there is any kind of suspicion of harmful effects. Such a misunderstanding results in major frustrations. On one hand, industry is concerned that regulators receive too much discretion in regulating risks; environmental groups are often disappointed that precaution is not so effective in banning substances than they had hoped for. The paper will address the conceptual elements of precaution and points out to possible pathways of effective communication.
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