Regulating Opportunity and Innovation in the EU. The Case of Sustainable Materials (Plastics) Management.

Abstract

This paper shows that while one may disagree with the exact content of the current state of nanotechnology regulation (including from a precautionary point of view), existing EU law in that area follows the by now well-trodden path of 'incremental regulation', which by its very nature is reactionary. Sustainable materials management, on the other hand, is driven not by reaction to hazard, but rather by rising to opportunities. This, the EU finds much harder to surround with the required regulatory certainty.