The 'Antechamber’ of Emergencies: Insights from the Judicial Application of the Precautionary Principle at the Union Level

Emergencies have gradually found a more stable place in the law of the European Union. Nevertheless, the concept of emergency at the Union level presents some ambiguities that generate legal implications. That is coupled with various issues concerning the precautionary principle. Even if precaution has become a general principle of the law of the European Union, some of its structural aspects are still unclear. However, the precautionary principle seems to have the potential to be a decisive tool in the hands of policy and decision-makers when it comes to managing events that are related to emergencies. This article analyses and untangles the relevant case-law of the Court of Justice to detect common trends. This study envisages possible legal implications with respect to the management of emergencies (understood in a broad sense) through the precautionary principle in a multilevel context. In particular, the analysis demonstrates that, based on the Court’s case-law, this principle could be key to taking actions in the preliminary phases of the emergency management cycle, especially when serious risks (are believed to) exist and are addressed in the absence of full scientific certainty.