The Transatlantic Shift in Health, Safety, and Environmental Risk Regulation, 1960 - 2010
35 Pages Posted: 1 Aug 2011 Last revised: 28 Jan 2014
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
This paper describes and explains an important discontinuity in the politics of consumer and environmental risk regulation in Europe and the United States, If a regulation was adopted between 1960 and 1990, American regulations were more likely to be more risk averse, innovative and comprehensive than those adopted in Europe. Since around 1990, the EU has adopted many more stringent risk regulations than the United States. This policy shift is due to three factors. First, there have been more public pressures for more stringent regulations in Europe than in the United States: more health, safety and environmental risks have been more politically salient in Europe than in the United States. Second, influential policy-makers in the European Union have been more supportive of stricter regulations than have policy-makers in Washington. Third, the criteria for assessing risks has changed on both sides of the Atlantic: while the precautionary principle has become more influential in Europe, regulatory impact assessments have grown in importance in the United States. The final section of the paper explores the factors that shape the political construction and public perception of risks.
Keywords: risk, regulation, consumer and environmental protection, European Union, United States
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation