Introduction

That the European Union is an outspoken champion of the application of a precautionary principle with clear legal implications in the international arena was shown in the previous chapter. Originally developed in Germany, the principle has matured at European level only in the last ten to fifteen years. The original German vorsorgeprinzip has been interpreted as a highly ideological policy instrument with a wider and more complex scope than the precautionary principle generally discussed in today's literature and international trade conflicts. The purpose of the original concept answered to unease in German society with regard to the risks inherent in modern society, and was part of a wider ideology that was sometimes called ‘ecological modernisation’. Some commentators hold that Germany, fearing that its own industries would be disadvantaged by its strict environmental policies, pushed through the precautionary principle at the European level in order to create a least common denominator of environmental protection in its most important export market. Others see the development as a natural response to the growing awareness of the risks inherent in modernisation. During the 1990s the appeal of the precautionary principle increased dramatically among European citizens as well as among their elected politicians and policy-makers. Especially tangible is the rise of the use of the principle in health and consumer protection. Several explanations have been proposed to explain this newfound fondness for the precautionary principle in Europe, ranging from theories of political cycles in regulation, to the assertion that European legal systems are more suited to the principle as such.