Paper's abstract

Nicolas de Sadeleer, How The Eu Court Of Justice Is Taking Into Account Uncertainty With The Precautionary Principle
It is settled case law that precautionary measures must be subject to a number of criteria, including the need for the authorities to carry out a risk assessment that is as complete as possible. Where it is not possible for them to carry out a full risk assessment, this does not prevent them from adopting preventive measures where such measures appear necessary in order avoid the occurrence of risks deemed to be unacceptable for society. This chapter highlights that these tests are applied more strictly in health-related cases than in genuine environmental cases due to the fact that fundamental freedoms (freedom to conduct a business, free movement of goods) were at stake. Whenever these requirements are met, the EU courts will not call into question the wide margin of discretion left to the regulator, which implies a limited power of review on their part.

Key Words : Legal status – Merits review – Judicial restrain – Food safety law REACH – Waste law – Nature protection law – Fisheries law
t. 62, 2020 : p. 189-213

---