Study on the precautionary principle in EU environmental policies : final report

This study, prepared for the European Commission's DG Environment, reviews the actual use and implementation of the precautionary principle in EU environmental legislation. The precautionary principle provides a basis for public authorities to take actions aimed at preventing or reducing uncertain risks, i.e., those risks for which scientific data on the likelihood of a hazard and the nature or the importance of the hazard are insufficient or impossible to identify. The study analyses the use of the precautionary principle in 15 EU legislative instruments. For eight of these acts, including the Habitats Directive, REACH and the Water Framework Directive, it looks at how the use of the precautionary principle evolved during the legislative process. It also considers relevant rulings by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In general, the study finds that the key elements in the Commission's Communication on the precautionary principle (2000) are being implemented in the environmental legislation. However, differences in application were identified. For example, certain aspects such as methodologies for assessing risk and when precautionary action needs to be taken vary across the different sectors, reflecting content-specific approaches and allowing the principle to stay flexible and adaptable to the needs of a particular environmental policy area. While this flexibility is an advantage, it also presents the challenge of how to ensure that the principle is applied when needed to achieve a high level of protection for people and the environment.