Paper's abstract

Bettina Laville, How the EU Court of Justice Is Taking Into Account Uncertainty with the Precautionary Principle
It is solid 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 as completely as possible. Not being able to carry out a full risk assessment 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) are at stake. Whenever these requirements are met, the EU courts will not challenge the wide margin of discretion left to the regulator, which implies a limited power of review on their part.

Key Words : Rio - sanitary crisis
t. 62, 2020 : p. 215-224

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