EU Risk Policy and Risk Analysis

Abstract

We are daily faced with a great deal of risks that we manage on our own. Not all risks are regulated in our society. In fact, are usually regulated product and service risks that cannot be sufficiently controlled on the individual consumer-level, those that because of their nature or size go beyond the sphere of action of individuals and/or involve a public interest, like for example environmental or climate risks, as well as those related to externalities, situations where the risk-producer has no incentive to prevent or reduce the risk, or may even receive a benefit from imposing a risk on others. In advanced countries, we benefit from unprecedented, favourable conditions of life, including on health and safety, reflected in a dramatic increase of average lifetime, but new threats and risks have appeared, linked to technology, economic and population growth, which dwarf the ability of individuals to manage risks by themselves. Risks subject to regulatory action are often complex, uncertain or ambiguous. Risk managers therefore need to apply a structured approach. The concept of risk analysis, including the assessment, management and communication of risk, stays at the core of the EU and internationally recognised approach to risk. It is based on a technical definition of risk and involves a science-based approach to risk assessment and the functional separation between assessment and management. The risk analysis paradigm is integrated into the EU decision-making process, across many policy sectors, but important differences remain, which reflect historically different sectoral regulatory cultures and the specificities of the various legal frameworks.