The recent European Commission Communication on the Precautionary Principle. The Communication describes precaution as a risk management tool only a part of a risk analysis framework rather than the overall guide to its implementation. Precaution is discussed in the context of risk containment, not in terms of preventing risks and harm. This assumes that risks are inevitable and must be accepted by society only the degree of acceptable risk is in question. The importance of assessing alternatives to potentially harmful activities is completely missing from the Communication.
Precaution is seen as a temporary measure pending further scientific information.
This is based on the assumption that science can eventually provide answers. While it calls for cost-benefit analysis, it notes that such quantitative analyses cannot always be undertaken. More important, it says that protection of health and the environment should come before economic concerns. What is missing is the spirit of the original German framers of the Vorsorgeprinzip and the most thoughtful subsequent interpretations of the precautionary principle. The principle embodies the idea of careful planning to avoid risks in the first place, rather than trying to determine how much risk is acceptable.