Although there is still no worldwide agreement on the legal status of the precautionary principle within international law, the European Union Court of Justice has clearly defined it as a fundamental principle of Community law. This principle obliges relevant authorities to take appropriate actions to mitigate certain potential risks to public health, safety, and the environment, prioritizing the protection of these interests over economic concerns. Additionally, the European Commission believes that “this principle has been gradually established in international environmental law and has evolved into a comprehensive and general principle of international law.”
paraphrase:
Whilst there is still no global consensus on the legal status of the
precautionary principle in the context of international law, the European
Union Court of Justice explicitly stated that:
the precautionary principle can be defined as a
general principle of Community law requiring the
competent authorities to take appropriate measures
to prevent specific potential risks to public health,
safety and the environment, by giving precedence
to the requirements related to the protection of
those interests over economic interests.21
And the European Commission is of the opinion that “this principle
has been progressively consolidated in international environmental
law, and so it has since become a full-fledged and general principle of
international law”17
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