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The Problem of Low and Uncertain Risks: Balancing Risks and Benefits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Dirk Hudig
Dirk Hudig*
Affiliation:
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Extract

Both the Lisbon Treaty and the new Inter-Institutional Agreement strengthen the role of the European Parliament (EP) as co-legislator. At the same time, European Union (EU) officials increasingly recognise the need for broader acceptance of the principles and agreements of the Better (Smart) Regulation strategy, as proposed in an October 2010 Commission Communication. There is a need to make high quality risk management decisions in a more risk averse environment and a changed policy framework. Indeed, principles supporting better regulation have become more widely adopted by all EU institutions, notably with the Impact Assessment Board (IAB) of the European Commission, which now screens all new proposals. Due to the broad diffusion of these principles, risk assessment techniques have become more widely understood. This trend is particularly salient in four areas of application: (1) the on-going debate between regulating by hazard and regulating by risk; (2) a better understanding of the nature of risk/risk trade-offs, (3) use of benefit/risk assessment, and (4) the Commission Communication regarding the precautionary principle.

Type
Symposium on the European Parliament’s Role in Risk Governance
Information
European Journal of Risk Regulation , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 157 - 160
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

1 European Commission, “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economics and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions: Smart Regulation in the European Union”, Brussels: COM 2010 543 Final.

2 Communication from the European Commission on the Precautionary Principle, Brussels: COM 2000/001.

3 Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), available on the Internet at <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:136:0003:0280:en:PDF> (last accessed on 13 April 2012).

4 European Risk Forum, “The Precautionary Principle: Application and Way Forward”, October 2011.

5 The term “zero risk” is placed within inverted commas because the concept is misleading. See for example: Graham, John D. and Wiener, Jonathan B., Risk Versus Risk: Trade-offs in Protecting Health and the Environment (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995)Google Scholar.

6 European Commission, “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economics and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions”, supra note 1.

7 House of Lords – European Union Committee, “Impact Assessments in the EU: Room for Improvement? Report with Evidence”, 4th Report of Session 2009–2010, 62 HL Paper (2010).

8 Paula Columbo, “BEPA: A Fresh Start.” 17 November 2011, available on the Internet at <http://ec.europa.eu/bepa/about/fresh-start/index_en.htm> (last accessed on 13 April 2012).

9 Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, signed at Lisbon, 13 December 2007, available on the Internet at <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:306:SOM:EN:HTML> (last accessed 13 April 2012).