The Changing Face of Risk Governance: Moving from Precaution to Smarter Regulation

STOA, the European Parliament's Technology Assessment body, which I had the honour to chair, has a mission to: (i) assess the impact of introducing and promoting new technologies, and (ii) identify the relevant policy options. In the context of its work, STOA has to address many different issues. One of the issues deserving STOA's attention is the changing face of risk governance: “Moving from precaution to smarter regulation”. This is currently being debated on various levels, including that of the WTO (World Trade Organization), where science-based decision-making has always played an important role. The JRC (Joint Research Centre) is very active in this field and has developed, among others, a science-based approach to risk assessment in the area of nanotechnology. With the comitology procedure becoming more and more important, the European Parliament and its members have to assume their role with respect to risk management and explain it to the public.